The credit for this idea has to go back to my mom...well played Mama, well played. I never would have thought of using a standard drop cloth used for painting houses as curtain material but it is a great idea and I love the final result.
Project Cost: Under $50.00 for three windows. I'm a fan. This includes the cost of the sheers I picked up at Goodwill.
Here's what you need:
- 9x12 Drop Cloth - you can get a large canvas drop cloth from Home Depot or Lowe's for about $20.00 and I got 6 panels out of one drop cloth, allow me to do the math for you...that's six 2 foot panels which isn't the typical width of a store bought curtain panel but it served my purpose. Cut it to whatever width makes you happy.
- 1 inch dowels, a 6 foot long rod trimmed just a little fits a standard window well. Also...the diameter of this thing isn't super precise either, I think I have a 1 inch rod and maybe a few that are 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inches. For anyone confused by this, this is what you're looking for more or less, I could only find these at Lowe's.
- Sheetrock screws/anchors
- Drill
- Two wooden curtain brackets per window, I couldn't find a link for these on the Home Depot or Lowe's website but I know they have them. Here's a picture of what you're looking for...
I had to paint mine, it's under $5.00 for a set.
- Optional - curtain clips and rings. There are a few ways you can do the hanging portion of installing these curtains, if you're going for the cheapest route then you'll need to pull out your sewing machine. Your third option outside of clips and rings or sewing is to cut small slits in your panel at the top and string something twine-like through and knot it the way I did in the picture above.
Not my favorite simply because it's time consuming and not as cute as it was in my head.
Let's get to it...
1. Iron your drop cloth, it will take you forever. Get comfortable. Put on a movie. Prepare to get bored. Let me know if I'm the only one who smelled Wheaties while I was ironing...I really want to know if that was in my head.
2. Cut your panels, I found it easiest to cut a straight line by folding and ironing a crease into the fabric to use as a guide. Again, for standard windows I cut two foot panels. Do your own thang.
3. Hem your panels - I used the ironing trick again for this one, fold your cloth over just a little and put a good crease in it so you aren't fighting to keep a straight line
Don't be super concerned about having a pretty hem...or do, just remember that I wasn't and probably never will be in any of my future sewing endeavors.
4. This is where you get to decide how you want to hang your curtains...this is my favorite method.
Make a 6 inch fold at the top of your panel and stitch along the edge to make a loop of fabric at the top to thread the dowel through.
5. Paint or stain and install your wall brackets - I love the way a floor to ceiling curtain looks just because it seems to lengthen a wall visually so I installed the brackets at the very top of the wall. The width again is your call but if there isn't a wall close to the window I'll install the brackets about 8 inches wider than the window on each side.
6. Paint or stain your curtain rod...slide your curtain, curtain rings and clips or loops of twine onto the rod and hang it up!
I'll update with a better picture of the finished product when I can get some good light but you get the idea.
Notes
- Length...this canvas is 9x12 so if you have standard 8 ft ceilings it's going to be a bit long even if you hem a loop into the cloth to hang it with. I actually like how it bunches a little on the floor but if you don't, just hem it a few more inches.
- Curtain sheers, you can install a whole new rod separately to put sheers on if you like that look, I chose to just put them on the same rod for now since the whole point of these curtains for me was form not function and my curtains looked a little naked. The sheers I purchased were too short so I ended up sewing another strip of the same fabric onto the bottom in order to make them the same length as my drop cloth panels. I found the sheers at Goodwill - they're there a lot if you keep your eyes open for them.
Happy Sewing,
Rae
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