Tutorial: Easy Sew Curtains

A friend is expecting a baby girl in August and asked me to sew a few thing for her nursery.  I didn't decorate a nursery for either of my kids to I was excited to help out. I am of living vicariously a little bit, I think I would have a lot of fun designing a whole baby room.

Last week she brought over a giant roll of fabric, 8 yards of hot pink chevron! I couldn't wait to cut into it! First on the list, some curtains.

 

Curtains are super easy to sew, it is all straight lines with the sewing machine.  Nothing tricky and no fancy equipment needed.  

The yellow walls are in my house, they will be going on blue walls in the baby's room.  I like the pink chevron print, it works for a baby but can also be used as she gets older.  I probably would have even loved pink chevron in my room as a teenager, heck I might hang 'em up now if I thought my husband would go for it!

The measurements given in this tutorial are for curtains 48" wide and 84" long.  A good rule of thumb when deciding how wide to make your curtains is to make them at 2-2.5 times the width of your window.  That way when they are shut they still have a bit of fullness to them.  

Materials:

• 5 yards of fabric
• Coordinating thread
• Sewing machine

Cut 2 panels 84" x 51".

Hem the long sides of each panel as shown below: 

      (1) Fold and press the edge 1/2" 

      (2) Fold over another 1", press and pin in place

      (3) Sew along the folded edge

Hem the bottom edge of the panel by folding the raw edge up 1/2" and then 3", pressing each time, pin and sew along the folded edge. 

To make the tabs, cut 14 rectangles that are 9" x 5".  Fold them in half and sew along the edge with 1/2" seam allowance.  Turn the tabs right side out and press with the seam in the middle. 

Fold your tabs in half so the seam is on the inside.  Starting with your first tab at the very edge of the curtain, pin 7 tabs evenly across each panel, your last tab should be at the other edge.  For 48" curtains put them 5.75" apart.

Baste the tabs in place.

Cut a strip of fabric that is 49" long and 3.5" wide.  Fold the ends in 1/2".  Pin the strip along the top of the panel, sandwiching the tabs in between the layers.

Sew along the top edge.  Flip the strip so it is right side up on the back of your curtain.  Fold the raw edge under 1/2"  and pin in place.  

Sew down the three loose edges of the strip along the folded edges.

Hexagon Quilt

When I first saw a quilt like this over at hobby mommy creations all I could see was those annoying Y seams where the hexagons meet.  No thank you! But I was completely blown away when I realized this quilt was made without sewing any Y seams at all.  I had to try it!

I used the fabric I had left over from the quilt I made for my grandpa.  I love the grey (or is it gray? I can't ever decide), blue, green, and orange combo.

For the quilting, I just machine quilted some horizontal lines.  It was pretty easy, I used my walking foot and just went back and forth across the quilt.  

The quilt ended up being smaller then I expected and I ran out of fabric so I couldn't make it bigger...oops.  But is is a good size for a car seat or stroller.  It now has a new home with a friend of a friend who is expecting a baby boy.

To make this quilt, I started with 2" strips.  I matched up 2 colors I liked together and sewed the 2 strips together.  Then using the 60 degree angle on my quilting ruler, I cut the strips into triangles.

I ended up with two piles of triangles.

Which make two different hexagons.

Then I sewed the hexagons into halves by sewing 3 triangles together. 

I laid out my hexagon halves into a pattern I liked and sewed them into strips.  In the picture below, you can see how I laid out my hexagons on the left, and then on the right you can see how I sewed them into strips.  I used the bottom half of some extra triangles on the end of each strip so I could cut straight across the top and bottom for binding.  

Then all the strips got sewn together.  Awesome hexagons, no annoying Y seams!