apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Great tutorial! A couple points worth mentioning for the rank amateur who might bust out a sewing machine to attempt this project:

1. You probably don't have a walking foot. That means that your fabric might start bunching up around the stitching line, since the bottom layer of fabric will pull under the needle slightly ahead of the upper layer. You can solve this problem by securing the side seams in place with an iron on fusible like Stitch Witchery. In fact, you can even cheat and decide you are done once you have fused the seams in place, but it will eventually give out.

2. When she tells you to topstitch, remember that topstitching is like drawing a straight line -- sounds easy, but is in fact very tricky. Here is a nice trick: figure out where you want your seam. Put the fabric under the needle. Then take a pack of post-it notes and pull off the backing. Stick the post-it pad down flush against the outer edge of your fabric. Now sew, using the post-it note as a guide. Instant straight line!

3. You might want to put a drapery weight in the corners of your panels so they will hang nicely. You can use quarters.

4. Don't just wing it when it comes to the size of your curtains! Noting looks sadder than too-skinny curtains trying to cover a window. Do a little math -- cheat sheet here: http://www.denverfabrics.com/pages/static/curtains/curtain-panel.htm

Excellent hints, Tallypo!

thanks tailypo. i saw this on the purl bee yesterday and was planning on doing these curtains this weekend. great tip about using post-its to help with top stitching! i'm so going to try that.

Great info Tailypo... thanks!

Hey, what is that chair? My old family home has a similarly styled "camp chair" (as my father calls it) including with the handles I don't always see on other similar styles. I think it's from the 1950's or 1960's, perhaps from Italy, and of leather (instead of rope) styled to look slightly water-stained. Sorry, I won't have a photo until I next get to visit my dad sometime... sometime... Is this based chair on some famous design?