DIY Kitchen Curtains

Yesterday I unveiled our kitchen mini makeover and promised to show you how I made those curtains.  So this is it.

We had those plastic curtain shades that roll up when you pull them down in our kitchen. While they are practical, they definitely lacked style. While looking at kitchens I found a blog called a well dressed home that showed how to make no-sew curtains by covering the plastic. They looked so good and easy that I had to try making my own.

You will need:

measuring tape
fabric of your choice (large enough to cover the window)
a plastic window curtain
scissors
liquid stitch or some other fabric glue
an iron

First measure the window you wish to make a curtain for. Once you have the measurements purchase the fabric for the curtains, making sure to get enough to cover the window. I got a couple of inched more because i wanted to make sure non of the the white plastic showed when the curtain was in place.

I found some beautiful fabric from Joann fabric that I loved. It's outdoor fabric, but I figured it could work. The fabric came in blue and green, but I ended up picking the blue. This is a picture of the fabric below:

 

This is the fabric in green.

I was sure to use my 40 % off coupon for the fabric because it costs $19.99 a yard! You can google Joann coupons and get one anytime you need one.

While at Joann's, I also bought some liquid stitch to use to adhere the fabric to the plastic curtain.

Once home, I removed the plastic curtain from the window. This was pretty easy because the curtain just snaps out of the hardware on the wall.  It is very important to note how your curtains are originally hung because you will need to cover the same side that was facing the kitchen before. I did not do this and I had a very hard time reattaching the curtain to the hardware on the wall. 

You will need a working area large enough to fit the curtain. Once the curtain is down from the window (or you have purchased a new one) place it on your work surface (mine was small enough that I could use the dining room table). Then take your fabric and cover the plastic shade. Do not attach anything yet, just make sure the fabric is straight and everything is how you want it. Then cover the shade with the fabric and turn over. Fold the excess fabric over the shade and iron to make a straight edge. Repeat for the other side. I put a towel under the shade when I ironed it and made sure not to leave it on for too long because it is plastic.

I left my fabric edges long on either side but this made the shade too thick and hard to roll, so I would suggest leaving 2 inches of fabric around the edges. Then simply lift up the fabric that you just ironed and spread out the liquid stitch. Then press the fabric to the plastic. Once it is place put some thing hard on top while it dries according the the directions (I used some books) and repeat for the other edges.

Once you are done just reattach the the shade to the hardware. It might not roll up as perfectly as before but it will look better. This is a picture of the kitchen with just the white plastic shade

And this is it after

I'm really happy with how it came out. I sewed the other curtains in the kitchen, but I forgot to take pictures, but I'm sure I will sew some more curtains soon and will detail how I made them step by step.