Ho-hum hemming the curtains - the needle and thread edition

{Ho hum definition: boring: so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness.}

Hemming curtains: It just has to be over as quickly as possible. If I were independently wealthy I would hire this out in a minute. Do you feel like that too?

Yesterday, I showed you the progress we made in B's room make-over.

This is my preferred method of hemming curtains in about an hour for 4 panels. T

Anyway.

I pinned them to a length I liked, then transferred one curtain over to the other rod. There are two windows in the room. I checked that it looked good. It did.

I like this length where they just barely touch the floor.

I determined the length of the panel: 94 1/2 inches.

Ok and here is what really happened: Once I was downstairs I second-guessed my original measurement of barely 94 inches, made all the panels 94 1/2 inches, hung them and realized they were all too long, then dh and I raised up the curtain rods by a good 1/2 inch. That's DIY for you. And the truth about what really happened . Awesome way to spend a couple minutes on a Sunday evening!

Then I measured down 94 1/2 inches from the top on all four panels and pinned them close to the crease. Always measure from the top down as that is the measurement you care about.

Then on my ironing board I lightly pressed the folded edge. Then measures 10 inches up from the bottom. A number I grabbed out of thin air. This would give me a finished hem of 9". I like the number 9. It's a nice number.

Using my retractable tape measure which keeps nice and straight, I cut the fabric at that 10 inch mark.Be very careful that you only cut the hem side or you will be left with some very short drapes or possibly a lot of yardage for other projects. Easter dress?

Then, again measuring from the bottom, I folded down 1 inch of the raw edge, leaving me with that 9 inch hem.

I had this very dark blue thread that looked a bit too dark on the roll, but I tested it by laying just a piece of it across the fabric and that looked good enough.

I like to set the stitch very wide for something like this. 1. it goes faster sewing, 2. if the curtains ever had to be taken up or down, if would be much easier to rip open the seams.

I stitched this close to the fold and I didn't zig-zag the raw edge. It is pretty well protected, being folded back and sometimes you can see the indents from the zig-zag through the fabric after you press on the seam.

Here is one of the sets of curtains. They are hung with tabs and I hung three of the tabs on the outside of the curtain brackets. And as tall as they would go (incl. that half inch) to make the ceiling heights look as tall as they can and the window as wide as it can. The width of the window is actually only the width that you can see, but doesn't your eye get kind of fooled into thinking the window is almost as wide as the outside of the panels?

What is your favorite curtain hemming tip? Except for trust your measurements. Do you just pick a number, any mumber for hemming? Have you ever made an Easter dress out of draperies?

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C.R.A.F.T. // Lines Across // Uncommon Designs // That’s What Che Said // Creatively Living//View Along the Way

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