It doesn’t matter how beautiful your living room is; if you don’t have curtains on the french doors, it will still feel unfinished. This write-up will show you how to make curtains for french doors in just a few easy steps.
Steps on Making Curtains for French Doors
Step #1: Measure the width and length of your french doors. You will need to cut two rectangular pieces of fabric that are a little bit longer than the measurement you got for one side and a few inches shorter on both ends for each piece.
Step #2: Fold one rectangle in half with right sides together, then sew around the length of the rectangle, leaving a small opening at one end for turning the right side out.
Step #3: Turn your fabric with the wrong sides together and press well before flipping it to the right side so that you can see your neat seam on the inside. Now sew around three-quarters of the edge- this time with no allowance for an opening.
Step #4: Match the two rectangles together with right sides facing inwards and sew along three-quarters of each side, as you did for step three. You will need to mark halfway down on one edge before sewing- this is where your rod pocket will be so that it doesn’t show when they are hung up.
Step #5: You will need to cut a square of fabric from the excess. Fold it in half, sew across one side, and then turn right-side-out before sewing up the other three sides as you did with your original rectangle. This will form your rod pocket, which can be inserted into either curtain; this depends on how much light you want to let in.
Step #6: You now need to put your curtain onto the rod, so start by inserting the rod into one of your rectangles- this will be at least four inches below where you want it and should leave an inch or two of space on either side for curtains to hang down from (you can add a rod pocket to either side of your curtain if you want the rod to be invisible).
Step #7: Thread a needle with thread (in this case, I used white cotton because it blended in more than black), then hem each by sewing up and down on both sides. You will need to fold over about an inch and sew back across the ends to make a finished edge.
Step #8: Hem the top of your curtain by folding over about an inch and sewing back across the ends so that all four sides are now neatly hemmed before you hang it up! When I was done, my curtains for french doors looked like this (you can see how they hung down from the rod in the middle of this photo):
Step #9: Hang your curtain on a rod to see how you like it! For my french door curtains, I used an adjustable tension pole which is long enough to go across both doors. The 60″ length means that each side has about 12-14 inches of overlap for fullness at the bottom.
Step #10: Take a look at how you like your curtain before it is permanently installed! Make any adjustments or tweaks, and then install the rod so that you can enjoy a perfect french door curtains set up (sometimes I change my mind on the length of time they need to be open)! The last step in how to make curtains for french doors is installing the rod so that you can enjoy your perfect setup!
Step #11. Start by laying a level across both door jambs and leveling it out on either side of where you want the rod to go. Thread a cord through each of your curtain panels and then tie them together at their middle point, leaving plenty of excess on either side for you to use later as tiebacks or pulls.
Put an end cap onto one end of the rod so that it’s ready to be mounted permanently into place using a screwdriver. Mount the rod to the wall using a drill and screws that are long enough to go through both walls of your french doors without going into anything else, like studs or electrical outlets.
Step #12. Now, you can hang up every panel separately from each other by tying them onto the topmost point of the rod with one of their long ends.
Tips: For outside mounting, hold up each panel with one hand while tying it around the rod just below the topmost point. After securing, clip it into place with hooks or clips so that they are securely mounted in your french doors.
If you want to be able to open up your curtains entirely without them falling on either side of the door when opened, then you’ll need a rod long enough for this task and a curtain rod mount that can hold the weight of both curtains and open them up. You’ll also need a way to hang these curtains from your french doors, which you can do by using hooks or clips as well.