DIY: Tutorial on Tabbed Curtains

Another project finished! Whoohoo! Only 5 short weeks until baby Brynlee Rose makes her entrance into this world--that is, if she is on time.  I still have lots to do to prepare for her arrival, but slow progress is still progress and I am hopeful that I will get enough done before she gets here.  I found this awesome tutorial at View Along the Way. She does a great job at making this project a walk in the park.  I was surprised at how quickly these came together, and they look great!

Materials Needed:

• Curtain Fabric 
• Lining Fabric 
• Thread 
• Ribbon

Directions:

Measure the finished length you want your panels to be and cut your curtain fabric. Add 10 inches to your finished panel length: that’s how long you should cut the fabric for each panel. (My finished panels are 90 inches long, so I cut my fabric to 100 inches long.)

Next step, cut the lining fabric.  Add 2.5 inches to the length of your finished panels, and that’s how long you should cut your lining. (My panels are 90 inches long, so I cut my lining 92.5 inches long.)

Now, cut the width of your lining to six inches less than the width of your curtain fabric. (For me, this was 38 inches.)

Here is a picture for you.  This is from the original tutorial over at View Along The Way, and her dimensions are different than mine, but she makes it super easy to understand, so I thought I'd share. 

Next, fold your fabric up four inches from the bottom and iron the fold. Then fold it up another four inches, iron it, and pin it in place. Sew the hem, backstitching at the beginning and end.

Fold the bottom of the lining 2 inches up and iron the fold. Fold another 2 inches up, iron the fold and pin it in place. Sew the hem and backstitch. 

Lay your curtain fabric on the floor, right side up. Now lay your lining on top of it, right side down. (The right sides are facing each other.)

The bottom of the lining should be 1.5 inches from the bottom of the curtain fabric, and one of the sides should be lined up.

Now, pin down the side where the two fabrics are lined up and sew.

Now that one side of the lining is sewn to one side of the fabric, lay them back on the floor again, and line up the other side. Because your fabric is wider than the lining, it’ll be bunched up and kind of awkward. Just do the best you can to make the second side lined up, then pin it in place and sew. 

Turn your panel inside out. Lay your curtains on the floor, lining side up. Now, kind of maneuver the curtains until you have equal curtain fabric on each side of the lining.

Iron the side edges so it stays in place.

I cut a bunch of 2.5-inch long tabs out of the ribbon. Once you have those cut, fold the top edge down 1 inch and iron the fold. Fold it down 1 inch again and iron it.

Now place your tabs evenly spaced along the back of the panel, tucking them about 1/2 inch underneath the folded top edge you just made. You definitely need a tab at each end of the panel. Then evenly space the rest in between. Pin them in place. I placed them about every 4-5 inches or so.

Now just sew along that fold. You’ll be simultaneously sewing the top edge down AND sewing the tops of the tabs in place.

Once you’ve sewn one straight stitch along the top of the curtains, go back and sew the bottom of each tab in place. I sewed over the bottom, backstitched, sewed over it again, backstitched, a bunch of times to make sure the tabs were on there really good.

And that's it! Super easy! Now you can hang up your beautiful curtains and admire your work! 

Sorry for the terrible photo quality.  I'll put up a better one soon!

-Saleena