I Found the Easiest $5 Trick for Making My Curtains Look Custom

I don’t know how to use a sewing machine, and I know I’m not the only one. I can probably count on one hand the number of people I know who are my age and can confidently wield a spool and thread. I’m always jealous of the few people I follow on Instagram that easily craft accent pillows out of scarves and hem their bed skirts to the perfect length. But I also know that will never be me, even if I tried to take a sewing class. My lack of perfectionism is an asset with many things home-related, but not when it comes to exacting tasks.

Which brings me to my most recent home dilemma. For those of us who aren’t in a house with ceiling heights that are perfectly suited to the 84-inch, 96-inch, and 108-inch standard drapery lengths, custom drapery is the only workaround to get that kiss-the-floor look (that, or, accepting that it might have to be hung at an odd height). 

Unfortunately, if you’ve ever perused custom options, you probably know that it’s generally prohibitively expensive due to the time, labor, and material. I’ve tried the Etsy semi-custom route, but the result was still pricey and not quite consistent from one panel to the next. Of course, you could also get off-the-rack drapery hemmed, but that’s still going to run you a pretty penny, especially in a room with multiple windows. That led me to the go-to no-sew option: hem tape. 

I’ve never tried hem tape on my own wardrobe, but it seemed like the easy option to get a tailored look with a set of curtains in my home. I ordered a $9 roll of hem tape, and, with an iron in hand, I carefully folded 4 inches of each drapery panel under, applying the hem tape, and ironing along the fold. At first, it seemed to work. I couldn’t believe how easy it had been to save hundreds of dollars and get the same look.

But, bad news wasn’t far behind. It didn’t hold over time — I think the early success was due more to the crisp fold of ironing than the tape itself. The thick cotton of the drapery panels, plus their lining, proved too much for the hold of the hem tape to work in the long term.

However, that didn’t stop me from trying hem tape again. I did a quick facelift on a bathroom that I’m not yet ready to renovate, and that included adding a new shower curtain.

Unfortunately, the old shower rod is screwed into the tile at an awkwardly low height, and the shower curtain I wanted to use is a standard height. I decided to try the hem tape hack again, and this time I bought a $5 roll of a different brand.

The shower curtain is made out of a much lighter weight cotton than the other curtains I tried this on, and, again, I carefully folded it up, applied the hem tape, and ironed away. This time, the tape held successfully.

So what’s the trick to using hem tape for a custom drapery look? Here’s what I discovered.

Lighter weight cotton drapery is the ideal candidate for hem tape. Anything with a thick hand is going to prove too much for the tape over time. You’ll get a crisp fold with the lighter weight fabric, and it will actually attach with just the hem tape.

I had to be careful to attach the bottom of the hem of the drapery to the drapery itself, rather than catching the lining. If you hem the lining, you’ll get a floppy end that won’t look crisp and neat (plus, it might not hold). 

The package says to hold for three to five seconds in each section, but I went a little bit longer. I found that three seconds wasn’t nearly enough time to create a strong hold. Don’t skimp on the ironing time and put a little extra effort into making sure you’ve hemmed this for the long haul.

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