Yes, you can sew your own curtains. I'm not an expert seamstress either, but I managed to sew a nice decorative valance (Pate Meadows design) for our kitchen sink area. You can use flat panels with rings. It gives a more casual look than pinch pleats, I think. But that's what I have in our living room. I removed the ring clips on the rings and used drapery pins instead to give them a more custom look. I think that would be easier to sew than the pinch pleat variety too. Fabric stores sell drapery lining that will serve as a lining and also add weight to the panels to help them hang nicely.

I'm still a little confused as to how practical this will be if you wish to open and close the slider, though. Will you leave plenty of room for stacking on either side of the doors?

Beautiful fabric! I love it.

Jan

Hi Homebody,

Yes, you can sew your own drapes. Just be careful to measure very carefully.

I would recommend lining them. As Jan said,they will hang so much more nicely. Also, it's almost easier to line them because you sew the curtain fabric to the lining and then turn everything right side out. Also, the lining makes the curtains more opaque - you won't see the light coming through. You should be able to find good instructions online.

I agree with Jan that you should just do flat panels and then remove the clips on the wooden rings and either sew them on or use the drapery hooks.

I have put panels on sliding glass doors. Just hang the rods outside the door frame and have the curtains just barely cover the end of the glass. I just moved them out of the way to open the door.

As far as a price on having someone sew them, I have posted before a workroom where they did 95" (single fabric width)drapes for me for $65 labor. They lined them and even provided the lining. I doubt you can find cheaper.

Keep us posted.

Here's the thread dawnp was referring to. I did contact Joe and he said they'd only use "natural" fabrics if you supply your own - he didn't want to use my polyester taffeta b/c it was a PITA to work with (not quite his words). I am emailing back and forth with someone else in PA who sallymo referred me to - I can give you her contact info if you want. I haven't settled on a design and she's not sure I have enough fabric, so I don't have a price yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Handmade drapes thread

I would say, yes, with reservations.

The thing about making curtains is that, because they are so simple, and because of the pesky laws of physics (gravity being the big one), they must be meticulously measured (including all the proper seam allowances), perfectly cut, and the finished top seams perfectly square, or they will never hang correctly. And you must be sure to buy enough fabric so that the pattern is aligned horizontally on the two panels.

I also strongly recommend sewing the side seams by hand. Makes a big difference in the hang and drape.

Do some research on line or in the library (does anyone do that any more?) and learn the proper methods of cutting and lining and pleating drapery fabric. It seems daunting, but in my view it is absolutely worth the effort and patience to learn and do it right. All you have to do is look in stores and design/fabric shops to see the difference between well-made and not.

That said, if you are patient and meticulous by nature, and enjoy proceeding slowly and carefully with a new project, you'll do fine. If you tend to hurry and cut corners a bit, maybe you'd be better off having them done.

I'm working up towards making my own drapes. To get myself warmed up for making drapery I'm making a table runner. A couple of things I wanted to pass along. In order to do a meticulous job of measuring and cutting you need a significant amount of work space. most books I've read recommend buying a hollow door, securing batting to it, and then placing the door ontop of sawhorses. It is really important that you have the workspace you need to do a good job.

the other thing I want to mention is that you can use hem tape in lew of stitching. I did that for some drapes I made for my son's room and it worked pretty well. Like anything else, it pays to practice before you dive in and make the actual drapes. You might try making the drapes first from muslin and see how it works out.

It's a completely doable project. But as others have mentioned, you need to plan, plan, plan and then measure, measure, measure before cutting. Sewing is pretty easy. It's all the planning, preparation, and measuring that determines how good the finished product is.

I would highly recommend going to the library and taking out some basic sewing (if you haven't sewn before) and curtain making books. Get yourself familiar with what needs to be done.

Plan out how much fabric is required before buying it. With 9-foot ceilings and having them floor to ceiling, you need 9-foot length + bottom hem (usually 4") + top hem (usually 8") + enough extra for the pattern repeat so the tops of the drapes are matching = 3.5 yds minimum per width. Then you need to determine your width. With 96" wide sliders + returns + plus having the drapes pull over to the side enough to have the doorway open and assuming double fullness, you'll probably need 5-6 fabric widths across. So you'll probably need about 24 yards of fabric or more.

I would also recommend using a blackout lining on the back. It'll save your fabric from the sun. Pinch pleats are a PITA. You have to really plan it out. Flat panels on drapery hooks or clips should look nice. And if you need to open and close the drapes so much, I wonder if you should put them on transverse rods?

I've also done this, and it's not hard. Measure twice, measure again, and go for it. I've used sheets as liners, and I slipped washers in as weights in the hem. I didn't hand stitch the side seams, but I did hand-hem. I made rod pockets, as I'm not a fan of the rings.

Adequate fullness is the key to successful curtains, I think. At least twice the width of the actual window.

Tam84 is exactly right, and I agree with everything except perhaps the hem length...I find that drapery panels hang best with 6" hems, plus the half inch to turn the rough edge. And the hems really should be done by hand.
Oh, and if you haven't done this before, a "width" is one cut length of fabric. I know...it doesn't make sense...except that it does. One width is just that...one 55" or 60" wide piece, depending on the width of the fabric off the bolt. Generous panels will often require one and a half or two widths each.
Each width is one piece that is the length of the finished curtain, plus the allowances for headers and hems, plus one full repeat to insure that you can match the pattern around the room.
If you have a really long dining room table, you can cut there, but be sure to protect it from scissors and pins.

I usually do double hems for the top and bottom (unless the fabric is super thick) and hand sew those. When using a lining, I use the sewing machine since the face fabric is cut wider than the lining and the seam is on the back.

Yes, in estimating the width, I forgot to mention I assumed a 54" fabric width (most decor fabrics are 54" wide from selvage to selvage).

One other thing, since you need to sew several widths together, having a pattern on the fabric makes it harder since you have to match up the patterns.

I hope I'm not scaring you away from this project. Sewing isn't tough, but it is a lot of prep work. Good luck!

The hem should definitely be doubled - meaning that you turn up the same amount twice, be it 3 inches or 6 inches. If you turn up the rough edge up less than the full hem the light will show through differently and you will see that extra line in the hem. (hope that makes sense!)

you guys are great!

I LOVE the idea of not doing pinch pleats and just attaching the rings to the fabric. sounds much simpler

I am a little afraid of attaching the lining and getting it to lay flat, but I am going to do it since everyone is in agreement. Tam84 - It sounds like a good idea to use a dark liner to block out the sun.

The owner at the fabric store recommended this process-

taking the two 55" panels and sewing them together (paying attention to the repeat). I want to have have the panels at least 100" wide for fullness. There will be sheers in the center of the window.

Then start with a 4 inch fold on the bottom, ironing that seam, then doing another 4 inch fold, and then sewing the hem? She said to do the same at the top, but in 3 inch sections? Bronwynsmom- Should I do the 6" at top and bottom?

Jan and Ideefixe- I was thinking that with the rings it would be simple to just push the panel out of the way when I want to open the door. Is it totally crazy of me to think I can push the panel toward the center of the door (to the right) and not to the left of it? Does that make sense? I purposely chose a darker color fabric to hide the black dog hair if my kids get too lazy to move the curtains!! Jan could you post a pic of your panels on the rings? I think that idea is much better than trying to sew pinch pleats.

Andrea- were the curtains you made with the hem tape washable? If I could do these without sewing I would be a happy camper!

Ajsmama- thanks for the website. Incase I chicken out, at least I have a backup plan.

Thanks everyone for the helpful information. I am going to measure again tonight one more time and buy the fabric tomorrow morning- no looking back then! Probably just a million more questions once I actually begin :)

Yes, the curtains I made are washable. I was able to find some great premade cotton curtains at Ikea. They have backtabs that I ran through a tension rod. I attached a blackout liner to them and hemmed them using hem tape. My mistake was that I used too broad of a pice of hemtape. Should have used a smaller piece. But, the drapes look pretty good and they do the job of blacking out the sunlight in his room which was the goal:0)

dawnp- I got so many responses back so quickly, I somehow didn't read that you are using panels with rings on your slider. May I ask if you are using anything else beside the panels on your door? Do you have verticals, or sheers in the center? I want desperatly to get rid of my verticals!

I got a price of $175 for the panels yesterday. It included sewing together four 55 inch wide panels - that would make two 110" panels- one for each side. The panels will be close to 9ft in length and she would provide the lining, and the weights on the bottom. I got another quote, that was $200 with me providing the lining. They both sound like a fair price (I live in a small town) but still out of my budget.
Thanks again for any ideas!!

Hi Homebody,

No, I did not have anything else on the sliders. If I wanted privacy, I just slid the drapes across. It was painless.

I made all the drapes for my living room and dining room (12 panels in all). I used a gorgeous fabric, and they look terrific, but I think they were a complete PITA to do, and I would never do it again. And I'm a reasonably good sewer.

The problem is what one of the posters above said - the amount of fabric involved. I found it *so* difficult to handle all that fabric. (And my curtains aren't even that long - only 70". I made them to the bottom of the window trim, though if I were making them now, I'd go floor to ceiling.)

I don't mean to dissuade you, but really, don't underestimate the annoyance factor. If I were you, I would buy a cheap sheet from a second-hand store for a couple dollars, cut it in half, and try sewing a curtain from it, just to get an idea of what you're facing.

Personally, I think $175-$200 is well worth it, and I would save to have someone else do it. Obviously, not everyone finds it as onerous as I do, though.:)

Good luck!

You mentioned costly fabric.

Candice Olsen tends to do a lot of panels and cuts cost by using a large solid band at bottom. Say 24" at bottom. Or instead, a 8"ish band down the one side of each panel, usually the inside side. For lighter colored fabrics she edges in darker color and it helps keep the drapes clean when pulled open and closed, especially with kids. Your fabric is really pretty but could seem busy when all closed up. The solid edge or base could keep it from looking like a huge square of floral when they are closed.

Did I mention I thought the fabric was really pretty? It is. Oh, you can totally do this yourself as others have mentioned.

For $175 for both panels with lining and weights, I would not hesitate giving the job to someone else. That is an excellent price if the work is good. You really can't beat that.

Your panels are going to be humungous. So you need a lot of space to lay the fabric out to make square cuts and then hem and sew. And just joining several fabric widths together with that pattern could take several days of work. (Does that price include them knowing that the fabric has a pattern?)

homebodymom - did you call Joe? Or was that someone else? That's a great price, what kind of material? I'm disappointed he won't work with my material.

Please email me with the people you got quotes from. The lady in PA still hasn't given me a price, but once she started talking about traveling to CT to hang them (said she didn't want to bring her "installer" so asked if DH was handy - I guess just to hang the rods), I got worried that it was going to be out of my budget. I need 6 panels, 2 of them double-width.

Hey Ajasmama. I finally responded to your post in another thread...sorry it took so long but I missed it somehow. I found a workroom in Philadelphia that was very inexpensive. I haven't used them but plan to soon. Please email me if you're interested.

I think you should farm this job out. Make sure that the process they will use is the same quality work that everyone here is describing.
If you did it yourself...yes, the doubling of the bottom hem is the better idea, and no, I would not make the top 6".

Another thing to think about...what I have usually done when seaming two widths is to split one of them down the middle, switch them left and right so that the selvage edges of the split panels is matched up with the selvage edge of the whole one (much easier to match the pattern that way, in my experience), and sew two seams rather than one. It balances the panel better, I think, giving you one full width of the pattern in the center. In my view, it's a more elegant look than having a seam right smack in the middle.
What do the rest of you think?

Bronwynsmom, I totally agree on how to get a double-width panel.

That's how I always do it!

update on the plan!

Shannon- thanks- I love Candice too! If I weren't using a solid color sheer in the center of the door I would definetly consider doing a solid vertical stripe up edges. The fabric on these panels will never be closed completely.
Tam184- The seamstress asked me to describe the pattern and I spoke with her about "matching the repeat" (all new terms for me!) so I am assuming she knows how to do this. She said she would come out to the house and measure the door herself because I was a novice with giving her concrete measurements for sewing.
Ajsmama- This is a local women here in Florida that the fabric store recommended. They gave me 2 names and warned me that one was a little bit more expensive, but that both were very good. As I said before, I live in a pretty small town. I have a feeling prices vary depending on where you live. Have you checked locally?

I bought the fabric yesterday. After all of this information ( thank you all a million times over) I have decided to have them sewn professionally. The fabric was pretty expensive for my budget, and I don't want to risk ruining it. It will mean waiting a bit longer, but I have been in the house for 6 years without curtains for the door, so what's another month or two! I would rather wait to save up to have it done properly.
Thanks again, and will post pics as soon as they are done!

Good you found that price locally, you can ask for references and actually (maybe) *see* their work before you decide which one to go with. I got a quote from lady in PA, I will check locally now that I have something to compare it to (DH is glad to save on the shipping since I said it would be a big package(s) to avoid lots of folds in 96" panels). But project is on hold since we had an unexpected car problem pop up yesterday - the rear lift gate/window of our Explorer fell off the hinges!

I have porch cushions to make (just got my Velcro from Joann.com today) so maybe by the time I'm done making those I'll tackle the curtains using all these wonderful tips, or decide it really is best to have them made - esp. if I can find local quotes as good as yours.

Enjoy them once you get them!

This site has great instructions for simple lined panels.

Here is a link that might be useful: lined drapes