Make This: Tab Top Curtains Tutorial

We just love the look of custom home decor, and curtains are no exception.  Especially since we love quilting, it’s fun to tie the curtains into the color scheme of the quilts and decor in a room.    Since Audrey’s house has nine-foot ceilings on the main floor, it’s hard to find ready-made curtains that are long enough to go floor to ceiling, which is a look we love.  It’s easy to make your own curtains, and today we’ll show you how!

To start, you’ll need a bit of yardage.  For our curtains, we cut two lengths of regular quilting cotton at 3 yards each, or the height of the ceiling.  This will give you a bit of extra for hems and such.  We used a print from Joel Dewberry’s Birch Farm line.  We’ll have this and other prints available on our website soon!  You can also use upholstery fabric, or heavier linen/cotton blends.Next, cut two 4″ strips for the facings on the back of the tab tops.For the tabs, cut two 6″ (or wider if you want longer tabs) strips, then cut each strip into 5″ rectangles.  Each of our curtain panels used 8 tabs, but you can do more or less, depending on how tightly you want the curtains to close.  We don’t recommend having tabs more than 6″ apart. Now, make each tab by folding the rectangles in half with right sides together, sewing along the long edge with a 1/4″ seam.  Turn inside out and press flat.Repeat for all tabs.
Next, hem the sides of each panel.  We just turned the selvage over twice.  Iron the folds to make them easier to sew, or if you’re a hem wizard like Diane, just fold it as you go!  You can also use a walking foot to keep things from shifting around.Once the sides are hemmed and pressed, fold the tabs in half and space them out evenly along the top edge of the panel, with the tabs folded and the raw edges at the top of the panel.Sew each tab in place with a 1/4″ seam.Once the tabs are sewn on, grab the facing piece.  Fold in the side seams twice and the bottom edge up about 1/2″.  Press these in place, but don’t sew them just yet.  Lay it right sides together with the curtain panel.  The tabs are sandwiched in there between the panel and the facing.  Sew these three layers together across the top with a 3/8″ seam.Press the seam open.  Once you press it as shown below, you can also fold the facing onto the back of the curtain panel and press along the top again.
On the back of the curtain panel, sew the facing down close to the folded edge.  You can sew up the side of the facing, or just leave it open.Now, hang the curtain on the rod and mark the bottom hem with a pin.  I like my curtains to brush the carpet, so they go just past the bottom.  It ended up being a 3.75″ hem.Press the hem along the bottom of the curtain panel.  Fold the raw edge under about 1/2″ and press, then sew into place, just like we did with the facing.
That’s it!  Press the curtains with steam right before you hang them on the rod, and they will look amazing!

Love!  We wish you could all see these in person, since they are quite hard to photograph with all the light coming in the window.  They make a bold color statement, and they couldn’t be more perfect for this room.  We love that lighter weight quilting cotton lets the sun glow through.  We’ve got a few more pairs of curtains to get done now!