Kitchen Curtains DIY Sewing Tutorial From Tablecloth

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These kitchen curtains are a great beginner sewing project. In this tutorial I used The Pioneer Woman’s Country Garden tablecloth and transformed it into a pair of curtain panels. I’ve made lots of curtains for our home and this technique, by far, has been the fastest. I only had to sew one seam per panel! If you’re new to sewing, you can totally do this project!

 

kitchen curtains

We painted our kitchen accent wall teal, and this tablecloth matched perfectly. I actually did look around for fabric that would work, but once I saw this print I wanted it and could find no replacements.

The Maths:

First you’ll need to know how big your window is to ensure you find the right size tablecloth. I hung my curtain rod (well actually my husband likes to do that for me, read: he hates it, but does it anyway). Then I measured from the top of my curtain rod to the countertop {45″}, which is how long I want my finished curtains to be.  Secondly, I measured the width of my window.

Now you’ll need to take into account the pocket for your curtain rod, and add it to the length measurement. The large tablecloth measures 60″ wide X 100″ long. So when I cut my curtain in half, I will have two pieces measuring 60″ wide X 50″ long. This gives me 5″ to create a rod pocket with, which is ample room. You need this information before you purchase your tablecloth, to be sure that it is large enough to cover your window.

I’m covering two windows so I purchased two tablecloths. I was also able to make one tablecloth work (for my size windows), but each window was only covered by one panel, not the traditional two so you wouldn’t be able to slide them open. I think they look beautiful gathered in the middle. If you’re only covering one kitchen window, it’s highly likely that one large tablecloth can work for you. But you’ll have to measure to be sure!

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The finished product with only one tablecloth, cut in half to form two panels.

Once you have measured {twice} and purchased your tablecloth(s), head to the sewing room… for some ironing.

The Steps:

Fold your tablecloth in half (bring the short sides together) and pin the ends together. Starting from your pinned edges, iron towards the center, creating a crease there where you will cut it in half. If you just fold it in and cut, without ironing your two pieces will not be even.

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Once you are sure your center is true, cut your table cloth in half. Remember you’re cutting the length in half, so mine was 100″ and now will be two 50″ lengths.

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To create your rod pocket, fold over the cut edge 5″ (or your measurements based on your window)

kitchen curtains

Crease with iron. I use my grid ruler to check as I go to be sure it’s even all the way down.

kitchen curtains

Open your creased fold back up and iron to crease the cut edge 1/2″ then fold it back down.

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Pin into place.This is where you will sew it down.

kitchen curtains

To the Machine:

kitchen curtains

Set your stitch length longer-3 or 3.5. Feed your tablecloth through your machine right side up. This means you won’t see your pinned edge. I use my finger to feel the edge beneath the fabric. Start & finish by back tacking. Sew as close to the pinned edge as you are comfortable, 1/8″ is ideal, but 1/4″ works well on this 1/2″ seam allowance, if that’s easier for you. Repeat on the other half and you are done!

kitchen curtains
Two tablecloths turned kitchen curtains (each window has two panels).
kitchen curtains
One curtain panel per window (from one tablecloth).
kitchen curtains
Two panels per window (from two tablecloths).
kitchen curtains
One panel per window (from one tablecloth).

I feel like you can hardly see the difference. For this size window, you only need two if you want to slide them open.

kitchen curtains

For the curtains ties pictured, I used the pre-made fabric strip that came on the packaging! They’re velcro backed and fit the curtains perfectly. The beauty of buying two tablecloths meant I had two ties also. An easy no sew substitute would be ribbon.

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