Designing Domesticity: How to Make your own Window Panels

First off, I'd like to say thanks so much for all the lovely comments on my new window panels.

I really am loving them and loving the fact that you love them too!

That's a whole lotta love going around!

Today, I thought I'd share the quick process of how to make some of your very own.

Let's get started:

I started by removing the drapery lining from my old drapes. Not only did this save a lot of money in terms of purchasing new, but it also provided a rough template for the length and width of the new curtains!

Bonus!

What's the benefit of adding a liner, you may ask:

1. helps with light filtration

2. helps to reduce the risk of fading from the sun

3. gives a cleaner and more professional look from the outside

4. helps to stop drafts in the colder months

see, pretty important, actually.

Find a place to lay out your fabric in it's entirety.

I needed panels that were 94" long when complete. Therefore I cut them 99" long to allow for seams at the top and bottom.

Add your liner, making sure to center and leave at least a 1" margin across the top.

Then, it's just a matter of getting down to the pining, really.

Fold over your fabric to create a 2" seam across the top.

Pin in place.

I found that a right angle really helped to keep everything nice and even and straight.

Fold your fabric to the edge of your liner on the sides.

Because I was working with striped fabric, I had a nice built-in line to work with!

Lucky me.

Repeat on the other side.

Across the bottom, fold your fabric up to the required length, in my case, it was 94"; pin in place.

I like a 3" seam across the bottom, hence measuring 99" to begin with.

This picture is a little misleading because it's the first panel I did and I was working with a pre-cut 3 yard piece of fabric.

When it's all said and done, it should look a little like this.

Now, this may shock some of you, but at this point, I folded up all my panels and took them to the dry cleaner to be stitched up!

I know, the shock horror of it all, but I can't really sew and I knew these panels were a real investment that I wanted to last a long time - so there you go!

Plus, she only charged me $20 a panel, which I thought was a steal!

Once I got the panels home again from the dry cleaner, I added my drapery pins.

Be sure to pin them through the back of the fabric only - no one wants to see a pin on front, now do they?

Of course, I saved these from my original curtains.

Waste not, want not!

Right?

I used 7 pins per panel. Start with the first and last, then add the middle and finally two between the first and middle and two between the middle and last. This helps to ensure even placement.