How to Make Curtains Longer

One of my home goals last year was to pay some much-needed attention to the window treatments in our house. Happily I’ve now finished the living room curtains, even with some customization and I couldn’t be more pleased with them. How only is there a way to add your own fabric to curtains but you can also learn how to make curtains longer. It’s quite easy, you’ll have fabulous looking curtains in no time.

I’d been looking for curtains for the living room for a while and after finding a pair I’d been long searching for thought my curtain quest was over.

Until they were sewed wrong and I had to return them since they’d been discontinued and I couldn’t get more. But a lovely reader left me a link to just the pair I needed ~ and I’ve since ordered two sets.

Our house is tall, with nine foot ceilings, so curtains that fit our windows are hard to come by. My option is to make my own from scratch or customize store bought panels by basically lengthening them to hit the floor or else I end up with this. These are 95 inch curtains by the way.

So my plan was to get a nice fabric and make them as long as I needed them. On a trip to Calico Corners I picked up this trim. It was so lovely I couldn’t pass it up but I paid more for it than any other yard of fabric I’ve ever purchased, even on sale. But it was so charming and I knew it would be a beautiful detail to the living room.

The dark grey fabric on the right {I was deciding between the two} was just what I was looking for. A nice contrast and on sale at JoAnns.

If you need to make your curtains longer to just want to spice them up a bit. Here is your how to.

I used purchased curtains, I didn’t make these from fabric, I just added fabric to the bottom and a trim in between the two.

Otherwise you’ll need: purchased curtain panels, the additional fabric in the correct amount, trim if you’d like {but this is optional}, and a sewing machine.

I know you can make curtains without a sewing machine, but I definitely needed one for this.

First, hang them up. I’ve learned that the best place to add additional fabric on curtains is at the line of the window sill because it’s a good place for your eye to rest and the overall curtains won’t look choppy and disjointed in your room.

Then I put pins in the curtains at the line where the window sill is.  This is so I would know where to sew the trim.

After that, take them down, flatten them out on a large surface and pin the trim onto the panel.

And pin on the fabric, right side down, onto the trim also. You can even use the same pins.

Then you sew. I used dark grey thread that matched the fabric for this particular project.

To hem the sides of the curtains I folded the grey fabric over the white panels and sewed, even when the white panels ended because of course they were not long enough. But the point of the additional fabric was that it would make up the length that the panels did not have.

The fold over method is not the most professional looking but these were 55 inches wide and I didn’t have enough fabric. Plus it was below the window, so it wouldn’t been seen otherwise. Secrets of my curtains, don’t tell!

To get the right length, I measured how long it was from the window sill to the floor and pinned then sewed them at that length. Which in my house was 23 inches.

Make sure you measure the right length and then cut, ask me how I know! I accidentally cut a piece to fold over the length of the white, which was wrong because the white panels were too short. Measure twice, cut once. I need to do this more often!

After I was done sewing, I ironed both sides of the white panels, the grey didn’t need to be ironed. Then I hung them up.

And best part is, they reach the floor!

The trim is lovely, it adds the perfect detail as I expected.

I’m really happy about how they look. Now I don’t have to apologize to guests about my short curtains 🙂

I’m not 100% sure on the pocket at the top and the gathering. I’ve actually pinned part of it to keep it from slipping on the pole and I might get clips. I customized the second pair of these white panels for the foyer and used the ring clips and love them {I’ll show you Wednesday ~ notice me new schedule? Mon, Wed, Fri 🙂 }. So I will probably get them for here too. We’ll see.

What do you think? Have you ever customized curtains?

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Tutorials & Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A to Z
Time to Shine Party at A Diamond in the Stuff