by Kimberly Hill
Window treatments are one of the things that will not only make your windows feel complete but also will allow you to make your rooms more inviting. And if you have just moved to a new place, opting for a ready-made curtain can sound a little expensive. In that case, you can make a valance curtain by yourself to save some money.
Now, you might be wondering how to make a valance curtain by yourself. Well, even though the task might sound a little intricate, you will not have to worry about a thing because we are here to make things easier for you. We will provide you a step by step guide that will make the task feel like taking a walk in the park.
Contents
Let us start by describing what a window valance actually is. It is a type of window treatment. However, it is not like the regular ones that you are going to find ready-made in the market. The thing that sets it apart from the rest of the window treatments is that these will only cover the top of the window.
Like the rest of the curtains, these have gained quite an amount of popularity for being able to do some tricks. It not only adds an aesthetic touch to the windows but also for being able to hide all the obnoxious mounting hardware and bars.
Nevertheless, these are also available in the market and will have different colorful patterns on the surface, but the best way to get the desired look out of your window would be to make one by yourself.
You are not going to need that much stuff to make a valance, and the materials that you are going to need can be acquired quite easily. They are:
The curtain fabric will be the one that will be on the top. It will be the one that can be seen in the front of the valance. Thus, the drapery lining cloth will be used in the underside that will create an excellent looking backside. This cloth will be the one that can be seen from the outside.
After getting all these, you will be ready to make yourself a beautiful valance for your window. And these are the steps that you have to follow for that:
Before cutting the fabric, you will have to get the exact measurements of your window. First, measure the width and write it down in a paper. We would recommend you to add at least three to five inches on both sides to make your valance cover the mounting the hardware properly.
The length, on the other hand, is totally up to you. But if you are not sure about the length, we would recommend starting with 20 inches. It is much easier to cut the extra cloths than to add it.
Now that you have taken the measurements of your window, you will have to cut the fabrics. For the curtain fabric, add three to five inches for the width and cut. The height is according to your preference. For the lining cloth, deduct ten inches from the initial cut for the width, and the height should be like the curtain fabric.
Let us give you an example to make the cutting equation easier for you. If the height of the curtain fabric is 15 inches, the height of the lining cloth should be 15 inches. For the width, if it is 26 inches for the curtain cloth, the lining cloth should be 16 inches.
That means it should have about 5 inches clearance on both sides if you put it in the middle of the curtain cloth.
Firstly, you are going to have to line the top and the bottom of both the cloths together. As they are of the same height, they should line up perfectly. After that, you will have to line up the left side of the cloths together and pin them. Repeat the same process for the right side too.
After pinning the right side, you will notice that the clothes are no longer laying flat on the ground because of the width difference. Then you will have to use the coordinating thread and create a ½ inches seaming allowance. Sew both sides of the cloths. After you have sewed the sides, you will have to remove the pins.
Flip them from right-side-out. Then you will have to use a good iron and make the seams flat and smooth. As the width of the lining was smaller than the curtain, the curtain fabric will have about 2 inches folding towards the backside, which is how you want it to be. It will create a perfect finished edge and will also keep the lining hidden from the front side.
When you are using the iron to make the seams flat, you will have to make sure that the curtain fabric on both sides is even. Depending on the size of your cut, you might have to make extra rounds of ironing.
After the sides are taken care of, you will have to work on the top and bottom of the cloths. For this, you are going to require the sewing gauge. First of all, you are going to have to fold the top to about ½ inches. Then iron the fold in place.
After that, you will have to fold it again to about three inches and iron it. Repeat this on the bottom too. Sew the folds together and iron it again to make them stay in place.
Once you have sewed the top, the bottom and the sides, you can hang the valance to your window. You can use clips to hang them, or you can slide the curtain rod. If you want to use rods, you will have to make a rod pocket.
Measure the rod, and sew a pocket in the middle of the on the top fold of the valance. After that, you will be able to slide the rod in and hang it on your window.
We hope that we were able to answer your how to make a valance curtain question, and, alongside that, we hope that we were able to make the process much manageable for you. With that, we would like to conclude here by wishing you good luck and hoping that your windows look beautiful with the valance that you hung on them.
About Kimberly Hill
Now it is just me, Kimberly Hill living in New York city, N.Y.
Loves to blog about various aspects of life that matter most.
Received the BA degree in Art History from Stanford University of California.
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