Sorry, I was spending hours cutting out the panels for mine! Yes, Bru, the 18" vertical repeat means that the pattern appears twice in a yard. If you buy 6 yards for 3 windows, that should be enough. I caution you though, depending on where the store makes the cut, don't plan on being able to cut your 6 yards into 3 identical pieces. They may send you fabric that the cut starts halfway through a repeat, meaning you may lose a few inches. We decided earlier that 1.5 yards should do it for you for each window. That will give you wiggle room to have the girl cut three identical pieces from your 6 yards, with a bit left over for your part project. What do you plan to make the 'ties' from? If it's this same fabric, rather than coordinating cord or ribbon, I suggest you buy 1.5 yards EXTRA, on top of your 6 yards. That will allow your girl to cut the needed 6 strips (2 ties per window) to make them vertically through that extra 1.5 yards. It may sound like a lot to have ties 56" long, but if they were only 36", that wouldn't give you much length to play with as you go to tie them up, as half of the tie will be in front on the fabric and the other half will drape over the rod and down the back. You then reach under and grab the back of the tie and tie the front and back part together. The reason I say to have her cut the ties vertically down through the fabric, is so your flowers will be standing up on your valance and running in the same direction on the ties. If the fabric was a solid or a small check, you could cut them across, but you don't want flowers laying down on their sides on your ties!

Easy to sew valance directions They ARE EASY - but the directions are long, because I am trying to give you enough detail, even if you are a beginner. Read them all the way through so you understand them, and ask any questions you may have. If you are a real novice, you may want to make a sample using just muslin, or other inexpensive fabric, til you get the hang of it. This is a no-pattern valance that I started making last summer. It requires just straight stitching. My windows are generally about 50" (more or less)in height. If your windows are very short or very tall, you may want to vary the length of the fabric you use. I would say to err on the 'buy more' side though, so they don't look skimpy. The fullness adds richness. I generally use 1 1/4 yards of 54" wide home dec fabric to make the valance. You will need an equal amount of lining fabric. If you choose to put trim on the bottom (it adds a lot to the treatment, IMO) buy 1 1/2 yards of trim to make sure you have enough to go across the length of your 54" wide fabric. If your fabric is wider than 54", buy enough trim to cover its width. Cut your valance fabric and lining to equal lengths. I always measure the side edges of my fabric and mark the length before cutting. It may have not been cut straight at the store, and you want to be sure that your left side is the same length as your right side. Pin the two rectangles of fabric together on all sides, with the RIGHT (front) sides of the fabrics inside, facing each other. Before putting the fabrics together, I mark lightly on the back which is the TOP of the print (if using a print) and which is the bottom, so your print will end up right side up! Depending on the type of rod you plan to use for the valance, you need to leave openings on each side that will become your rod pocket. Continental rods (the flat wide plain ones) need a 4" rod pocket. If you use a decorative rod, with finals on the end that screw off, I would recommend making your rod pocket 2" wide. For a small tension rod, I'd make the rod pocket 1.5" wide. You don't want to force your fabric onto the rod - allow room to make it easy for you. Measure down from the TOP of your pinned together fabric, and make a light mark with pencil on each side, the size of your chosen rod pocket, plus 1/2". That 1/2" is going to be the width of your top seam. You'll be making a mark on the left and right sides 4 1/2" down from the top if you use a Continental rod, for example. Stitch from these marks down each side to the bottom, using a 1/2" seam. You'll need to leave an opening in the top or bottom to turn your valance inside out when you're done stitching. I'd suggest a 4" - 6" opening for turning. If your rod pocket openings are 4", you don't need to leave another opening, you can use them to turn it inside out. Mark the opening you need to leave, then stitch across the top and bottom edges, using a 1/2" seam, leaving your opening...well...OPEN! Clip your fabric corners off OUTSIDE of your stitching. This is just a small triangle of fabric from each corner. This will allow you to get nice sharp edges on your corners when your turn the valance right side out, as it reduces the bulk of fabric there. Turn your valance right side out, pulling it through the opening you left. I use a wooden chop stick to push the fabric gently at the corners to make them nice and square, once I have turned mine right side out. Don't push too hard, or you may poke a hole through your valance! At this point, you should have a lined rectangle of fabric, with rod pocket openings near the top of each side. Close the opening you left for turning, either by folding and pressing the edges in and hand stitching it closed, or use 'stitch witchery' type of fusing tape to do it. You can also sew it closed with your sewing machine, but you want to do it right at the edge. You want to make this closure as 'invisible' as possible, so I always use fusible tape. Carefully iron your valance. Use your fingers to work the edges, so that you have your seam right in the middle of each edge, so you don't see the front fabric on the backside, and you don't see the lining from the front. Now, to stitch the rod pocket. You will be making one row of stitching across the front of your fabric from side to side. Measure down from the top edge, so you have the same length opening on each side. The size of the opening you left on each side was determined above by the type of rod you're using. You can lightly pencil on the line that you need to stitch across, or do what I do - Place the fabric on the sewing machine, and put the needle down on the place where you'll start stitching. Take a 4" (approx) length of masking tape, and lay it against the upper edge of the fabric, to the right of the needle, and stick it to the sewing machine base. You can use this tape edge as a guide to hold the top edge of your fabric against as you stitch across. It helps you make a straight, even rod pocket. My sewing machine has tape on it for all different widths of rod pockets! If you chose to put trim on the bottom of your valance, do it now. I use 'Aleen's OK To Wash-It' fabric glue that you can get at WalMart or a fabric store. If you use glue, just follow the directions on the bottle to glue your trim evenly to the front bottom of your valance. I lay my valance on my kitchen island, and let it set overnight, while the glue dries. You can also stitch your trim on, either by hand or by machine. I prefer the glue, because you see no stitching on the back side. (I'm anal.) Now to make the ties. You can simply buy ribbon (such as grosgrain) or use purchased cord (see my dining room silk ones in the link) or make them out of fabric. Use either the same fabric or a coordinating one. Here, you first need to decide if you are going to tie your valance up with bows, or do knots. Bows take longer ties. Allow yourself a MINIMUM of 36" long ties. You can always cut them shorter if necessary, but you can't make them longer. I suggest hanging your valance up and using string to tie them up temporarily to see how long you need to make your ties. (It's longer than you think!) Cut your strips of fabric approx 4" wide and the length you have decided on above for your ties. Fold and pin the strips in half the the short way, so you have a long strip of fabric that is 2" wide. Make sure the right sides are together, (inside) because you are going to turn them inside out after stitching. Stitch along the pinned edge of each strip, about 1/4" from the edge. Now the fun part - turn those narrow strips inside out. My chop stick comes in handy for this, but use whatever method you choose to accomplish this. Press the ties just as you did the valance rectangle, making sure your seam is even on the edge. I fold in the raw ends and use my fusible tape to close them, but you can machine stitch them closed or do it by hand - Your choice. Your valance is done! Put it on your rod, using the rod pocket. Hang it in your window. Now, take the ties, and simply drape them over the rod on each side, having half of the tie fabric strip hanging in front, and the other half of the tie hanging behind the valance. Now, gather up one side of the valance in your hands, and reach behind it it grab the dangling tie in back. Tie up the valance, by tying the front and back pieces of the tie together, either in a knot or a bow. Do the same with the other side, making sure your ties on each side are tied up at the same length. Now stand back and make sure your valance looks even at the bottom on each side. Use your hand to 'finger fold' and drape your fabric until the look is what you want. You'll be surprised at what a difference it can make in the look by spacing your ties closer together, or moving them further apart on the rod. Also by tying the ties higher or lower... This is where you need to play around until you get the look you want. On the HGTV message board, a woman made these and kept posting pics asking for advice - Higher? Lower? Move the ties apart or closer...It's really all up to you. Hers looked GREAT when she was done, and she was so pleased to have made her own custom valance. I hope you all feel the same way, if you try them!

Is the window going to also have panels on the side or just the valance? The wide valance that my3dogs has (of 2 pieces) works well since she has panels in the center, but if yours doesn't I would sew two lengths of fabric together and make one continuous valance. By using a smaller bracket in the center of the rod you can snip the fabric and slip the rod onto the bracket. If you're worried about it tearing, run some fabric glue around the edges or use fabric tape. Below is just one item available........ Here is a link that might be useful: tape

Hi, auntjen! Actually, only 2 Karastans, one in my office and the one in the LR, and the Woven Treasures Couristan in the DR are from eBay. I bought the others locally. I stick to a brand I know - mostly Karastan. I ask LOTS of questions beforehand, if the rug is from someone without a lot of info in their auction, and not many pictures. I'll ask for extra pics, too. I 'met' a Karastan dealer from PA last year when he auctioned Karastan rug that I had been dying to see, but they were not available in my area yet. (Shapura Athena) Come to find out, the one he had, and I bought, was an early 'mill trial' - one of a test run. He assured me that I could return it if I didn't like it, but it was perfect, and I saved a LOT of money. I ordered another of that style from his bricks and mortar store, because Karastan told him to stop selling on eBay or they wouldn't supply him any for his store! I think that is why ones you see now are often 2nd hand (no prob with that!) or from a model home. I often check Craigslist for them, too, and not just in my area. I sold two Karastans last year when I bought the new ones, and one went to VA and one to AR! The buyers paid for me to ship them to them. I'd do the same if it was one I really wanted. I buy all wool, but that's just me. The Couristan was one of those rare flukes, when I hadn't seen the rug before, but the seller had ONE, and it looked like it would go with my DR wallpaper. PURE LUCK...and I paid a bit over $400 for it, brand new, where Macy's has it 'on sale' right now for $1699. You may be looking for hand-woven, but I have never bought one... I don't dare to, unless the seller has wonderful feedback and a lot of it. You never know if it's one of a container purchased from who know where, and many of them, especially the ones where the shipping costs more than the rug, may have colors run if it gets wet. I stick to the brands that I know, and am sometimes able to see locally for true color before buying. I have no favorite seller, and I would gladly buy from an individual or a 'store' on eBay, if it was one of the two brands above. I just go to eBay OFTEN, and search Karastan or Couristan and see what's there. I see a Karastan 'English Manor Stratford' out there right now in 'my' colors, with a $699 Buy It Now price. I ALWAYS check online stores before bidding or buying to see if the deal is good. In this case, the first online store I saw has it for $999, so that is a nice price on eBay. BUT, I just checked another online site (Abington) and they have it for $749.99, so the eBay price isn't wonderful. I will stoop to asking a seller if they can do better, if the rug doesn't sell in their auction after being listed a few times. If yes, I arrange to do a Buy It Now thru eBay. All that flies out the window, though, if it's one I want badly, like the Persian Treasures in my LR, because it's not made anymore. I paid $460 for it (phenomenal!) after it didn't sell in the auction, and offered him less. I sound awfully cheap, but I am professional and courteous in my dealings with the sellers, and it has paid off for me. I hope it does for YOU, too!