There are cafe curtains that are shorter than the traditional window treatments. We use them lot of times to give our kitchen or bathroom a soft, breezy atmosphere.
This article detailes the steps on how to sew cafe curtains, and you need to follow the steps to sew cafe curtains for office or home use.
These half curtains are charming, and they add a homey feel to your personal space, but they also have the downside that may not be suitable for all your home furnishing projects. If you use it in the wrong space, it will be informal, cheap, and scarce. So before you start on how to sew cafe curtains, be sure of where you want to hang them.
Steps on Sewing Cafe Curtains
Step #1: Ensure that you get all needed materials ready. To begin on how to sew cafe curtains, they are:
- Tape measure
- Sewing machine
- Straight pins
- Pressing iron
- Curtain fabric
Step #2: Measure your windows’ width, adding an extra 2 inches allowance for the seam. That is how you will get your valance’s width. Add 4 inches more to the width of the recorded window so that you can determine the width of the fabric that you will need to make the bottom panels.
With these measurements, you will get a flat hanging valance and curtain panels. If you want to achieve a fuller valance and desire a curtain hanging with soft folds, include an extra quarter or half for the width of your windows.
Step #3: Measure the upper curtain rod from the top down to about one-third of the window’s total height. Include 6 inches more for the Valance length.
Step #4: For your lower curtain rod, measure it from the top down till about three inches down your window sill. Include 6 inches more to give you the lower curtains’ length.
Step #5: Lay the fabric face down on a flat surface and fold it in half, folding on the printed side. Using the measurements taken, cut out the valance and the bottom panels. Be careful with this process to ensure that all your patterns appear and follow in the same direction.
Step #6: Fold your valance on both sides below a quarter inch, then press flat using a warm iron. Fold the edges with another ¾ inch and press with an iron.
Add another ¾ inch fold on the edges and use straight pins on edge perpendicularly for easy pulling out as you are getting them closer to the sewing machine during sewing. Sew down the folded edges.
Step #7: Fold in the bottom edge of your valance under a quarter inch, then press down using an iron. Fold it for another one and three-quarter inches up and use pins to hold the seam. Then you sew the hem.
Step #8: Turn under the valance at the top under a quarter inch and press with an iron. Fold down the top edge for about 3 ¾ inches and use pins for the edge to create the rod pocket. Then sew the edge.
Step #9: Place the valance over the curtain rod at the top.
Step #10: Fold in the edges on both sides of the bottom panels in a quarter inch. Fold the edges for ¾ inch more, pin them and sew.
Step #11: Turn up the bottom panels for a quarter inch and press down using an iron. Fold up the bottom panels for an extra 1 ¾ inches secure with pins and sew the hems.
Step #12: For each of the bottom curtain panels, turn them under a quarter inch and press down with an iron. Fold the upper edges down at another 3 ¾ inches and secure with pins that will form the rod pocket. You can now sew the edges.
Step #13: Slip your panels into the lower curtain rod, then position your curtains in a way that there would be an opening at the center of the window.
How Much Fabric do I Need When Learning how to sew Cafe Curtains?
One of the simple rules in curtain making is that curtain fabrics should be one and a half or two times the wideness of the area you want them to cover.
Using a heavier fabric will give you a kind of fullness that you cannot achieve with any lightweight fabric. The lightness of the fabric is relative to fullness.
Is cafe Curtains Easy to Make?
It is very easy to make a cafe curtain, even for beginners. Anyone can easily come up with a perfect cafe curtain in a matter of hours.
All you need to do is, get the desired location you want to hang the cafe curtain, follow the steps above on how to sew cafe curtains, and you have the perfect design you want.
Conclusion
From the article you have read above on how to sew cafe curtains, you will find out that homeowners and decorators use cafe curtains because of the advantage. Cafe curtains do create a cute and simple appeal to your space. They fit perfectly in the kitchen, your breakfast corner, the sunroom, or even in the cafes where they got their name.