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How do you use curtain liners w/ tab curtains?

14 years ago

I'm about to start sewing a curtain for our shower. I was planning on just doing tab tops b/c I like the look. However, I then got to thinking about the liner -how do you attach it? Do you just use another shower rod and hang it a little lower so that it lines up w/ the top of the curtain vs the tab?

Is it better to just use grommets for shower curtains? The other idea I had was to just use ties and then I could slip one of the ties through the liner holes but didn't know if it would look funny.

I know I've seen tab shower curtains just never looked to see what they did with the liners.

Also -the fabric I'm using isn't super heavy -would you suggest lining it or putting some sort of weights in the bottom hem so that it hangs nice?

thanks!

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Comments (3)

johnmari
14 years ago
Tabs aren't so great for curtains that must be opened and closed regularly IME - they tend not to slide on the rod very well. If you use a simple buttonhole in the top hem you can slip decorative curtain rings (the kind you'd use for normal curtains, not shower curtains) through both the pretty curtain and the liner and use a decorative shower curtain rod. Use a good interfacing in the top hem to reinforce the buttonholes. That is less visually obtrusive than grommets.

You can get double rods for shower curtains, the inner one for the liner is a little lower than the front one so the liner doesn't show, but they tend not to be that attractive. Same goes for the double shower curtain hooks, they're very functional but not very decorative. Croscill makes some gorgeous decorative shower curtain rods that aren't too horribly expensive.

IMO fabric shower curtain liners are so much nicer than vinyl, and they don't stink.

I've used heavy steel washers for weighting shower curtains before and they worked really well. Sew little pockets, open at the top, every 6" or so in the hem of the shower curtain. Drop the washers in. If you want to you can take a hand stitch in the top of the pocket to hold the washer in place, you can do that, but I've never had a problem with them falling out. When you want to wash or dry-clean the shower curtain, just take the washers out.
onlygirlsmom
Original Author
14 years ago
thank you so much! I think my machine does buttonholes pretty easily -just need to get some interfacing to reinforce the area.
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bbstx
14 years ago
If you decide to go through with the tabs, you might consider using drapery hooks upside down to attach the liner. I saw it done with a thermal liner on regular drapes. You insert them in the curtain so that they are like a "J" rather than the usual way which looks something like an "n" to me. I have some doubts, though, about it staying in place for everyday use.

In the alternative, you could glue velcro to the top of the liner and the velcro mate to the back side of the curtain.

Having said all of that, I agree with with johnmari that tabs may not be the best way to go.

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