Thankfully I ran across a fantastic curtain tutorial by View Along The Way, and I may have just hatched either a brilliant or ridonculous plan to use Kelly's tutorial to make a shower curtain!
But wait, I have even better news...
Kelly from View Along The Way is here on the blog today answering a few question! Plus she was so sweet to stand by ready to give me any necessary aid while I executed her curtain tutorial!
Taking It From The Pros
You know me, I am not a "read-the-directions" or "find a tutorial" type of gal...but I'm trying to be! I am learning that sometimes the best solution to a problem is to seek help from the pros.
I love that Kelly's curtain tutorial isn't impossible for the non-sew'er to follow! *chuckle* I borrowed a slew of books I didn't understand, then read another slew of tutorials to try and figure out if I could even make a shower curtain, so I'm particularly happy that her tutorial was in plain English!
Look how gorgeous her nursery curtains are! You can see why they made the perfect inspiration right?
The Project
Ok, now click here to open Kelly's tutorial in another window...you might want to read it before seeing how mine turned out. It will better help you understand what I did next...
I carefully followed Kelly's tutorial with only three tiny alterations:
1. I used two flat twin sheets as my backing (since these will be shower curtains and don't need blackout lining). This meant I could skip hemming the curtain back (happy lazy me), since it was already hemmed. In addition, I saved a little money on backing and used some old off-white sheets that had a couple small but unfortunate bleach spots. Eh, at least now they have new life!
2. Instead of a straight seam across the bottom of my curtain front, I hemmed the bottom like this before putting the front and back panels together. This way the stitching is barely visible at the front, and the majority of the stitching is at the back. (Back is shown below) >>
3. I tucked the ribbon used for the back tabs under before sewing them...because apparently I'm a sucker for pretty seams (or for punishment!).
Well, what do you think? I applied the basic principles of curtain hanging that Kelly advises to my shower curtains. I hung them much higher up, and I think they are so much more elegant than a traditional shower curtain would have ever been!
I sewed these puppies as two curtain panels so that I could choose to throw them both open from the middle. What can I say? I guess I just prefer my shower curtains to act like real curtains!! *wink*
Are you wondering about the liner? Easy peasy! You can add back tabs to your shower curtains and hang both curtains back-to-back (which I did!), or if you're done with sewing for a while you can still hang your liner as usual from the inside (as shown below)...just flip those curtain hooks around!
A Little Chat With Kelly
Ursula: Your nursery curtains have this absolutely perfect billow at the bottom *drool*, what factors create that elegant feel and how can we recreate it?
Kelly: Thanks! I'm always preachin' the gospel of hanging your curtains high and wide. Hang them all the way up to the ceiling! I think it makes SUCH a difference in how elegant they feel and how it makes your windows feel larger and your ceilings higher. (Basically, if we could get everyone to do it, we could change the WORLD!)
Ursula:*giggle* You're as passionate and dramatic as I am!
Maybe I'm plumb crazy to use these tab curtains as shower curtains, but they really open and close so smoothly! I had no need for the traditional shower curtain hooks! I even used these DIY back tabs for the shower liner...have you found other hanging methods that open and close more smoothly than these?
Kelly: Heck no. I don't know why every single curtain is not hung this way. Rod pocket curtains don't open or close easily, and I'm not crazy about that bunchy look. And don't even get me started on the choppy look of tab top curtains! (I dislike them so much I invented this easy trick for making them look like custom back-tab drapes!)
Ursula: Oh yeah, that makes quite a difference!
You know, what I love most about your tutorial is how I'm entertained (I giggled like a loon reading it through the first time), I'm clued in (as opposed to my usual perplexed mouth agape look when reading tutorials), and I feel like I can do ANYTHING (although I'm a bit of a sewing dummy). How much sewing experience does one typically need to accomplish a feat like this? And what other fantastically do-able tutorials are you sporting on that brilliant blog of yours?
You know, what I love most about your tutorial is how I'm entertained (I giggled like a loon reading it through the first time), I'm clued in (as opposed to my usual perplexed mouth agape look when reading tutorials), and I feel like I can do ANYTHING (although I'm a bit of a sewing dummy). How much sewing experience does one typically need to accomplish a feat like this? And what other fantastically do-able tutorials are you sporting on that brilliant blog of yours?
Kelly: *blush* Thanks! Before I made these curtains myself, I had completed approximately ZERO sewing projects. Saying I was a beginner is an understatement. If you can sew a straight line, you're already ahead of where I was when I made these. I get a lot of emails from people who have followed the tutorial and whipped up their curtains in an afternoon! (That blows my mind. It takes me FOREVER to get one straight seam.)
All I know how to do is write tutorials in plain English, because I'm just not fancy enough to do otherwise! If you're looking for more DIY ideas like that, make sure you check out my project gallery! You'll see some classics there like:
-And how we completely made over our entire laundry room for only $157! (Did you know you can PAINT your laminate floors? And it lasts!)
And this is one of my all-time most popular posts, if you're in the market for some great DIY curtain ideas!
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