Do-It-Yourself, Room Decor

DIY: No-Sew Curtains

After PN reader Wendy Bowman’s nursery-in-progress caught our eye, we asked her to guest blog this awesome tutorial for us. Turns out Wendy is a professional muralist and etsy shop owner. Thanks for sharing Wendy!

Windows are a natural place to add style and color when you’re decorating a room. Lucky for us, adding beautiful curtains to your child’s room doesn’t need to cost any more than the price of 5-6 yards of fabric and some iron-on adhesive. Not to mention, you don’t have to know a single thing about sewing! You’ll also need an iron, tape measure, scissors and a large flat workspace. I used HeatnBond Ultra Hold, which recommends pre-washing your fabric without using fabric softener. I was afraid of fraying, so I did not wash my 100% cotton fabric, but it still bonded easily.

Begin by measuring your fabric panels for the desired length based on your window dimensions. Add two extra inches for the top and bottom hems, and cut each panel to the correct length. Next, working on the wrong side or back side of your fabric, place the HeatnBond tape with the paper side up onto the bottom edge of your fabric panel.

Carefully iron over the adhesive strip, making sure to hold the iron for about 2-3 seconds on each section of the paper backing.

Let cool; then peel off the paper.

Now, fold over about 3/4″ of the edge of the fabric, and iron to create a crease, holding the iron for 8-10 seconds on each section of the hem. Gently check to make sure the fabric has adhered.

Repeat all steps until you have folded over and bonded all four sides of your curtain panels. Clip on curtain rings to each of your panels, and then slide them onto your curtain rod. I used seven rings per panel, but it’ll depend on the width of your curtains.

Voila—a designer look for a fraction of the price, and you can say you did it yourself!

Have a DIY project of your own that you’d like to share with us?
Email [email protected] with details and pictures.

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By Wendy

Houston, Texas artist, Wendy Bowman has enjoyed over 12 years as a professional children's muralist specializing in custom nursery design. Wendy is mom to Bradley (11), and she is now expecting a second son at the end of August!

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74 Comments

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  1. 1

    great tutorial! I am also a non-sewer. What I also would like to know is, where did she get such great coral print fabric?? We have the girl’s version of the PBK surf bedding & it would look cute in the room.

  2. 2

    This may be a stupid question but how do you make sure to cut your fabric straight, with precision? I looked online and found some advice about following the weave of the fabric but oftentimes it’s so small that I find it impossible. I just finished my first project since middle school (a changing pad cover!) and luckily it didn’t matter much that it wasn’t cut perfectly but I think it would be noticable on curtains. Suggestions?

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    Tiffany,

    Hi Tiffany!

    Good question. I invested in some good quality sharp fabric scissors. Line your fabric up evenly keeping it folded in half as it came from the factory. Use a tape measure to check and make sure it is the same length on each side. Make a chalk line and use this as a guide once you have the two sides measured equally. Or, try to eyeball the grain. The grain on this Premier Prints coral fabric is large because it is a medium weight canvas-like material. With other fabrics that have a tiny grain, I will rely on the print as a reference.

    For examplle, I had a green vines fabric, so I needed to make sure the print did not start accidentally going at a diagonal. I folded it in half and made sure the same exact row of leaves were meeting on each side before I cut. If you do have any wobbly areas once you have already cut it across, simply trim it up to be straight before applying the heatnbond.

    You should do just fine!

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    Olivia at Moen,

    Yes, I made valances for my first home’s kitchen. I took them down to wash them each year, and they always survived the washing machine just fine, too! There are many types of no-sew hem adhesive on the market. Some have a paper backing as used in the tutorial, and some do not. For the type without the paper, you must iron down your 3/4 inch fold first forming the crease. Then place the tape inside the fold, and then press for 8-10 seconds per section. I grew up calling the no-sew hem tape “wunder under”. We used it for items in high school drillteam back in 1989!

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    Melissa – Lay out your fabric with a mat or something underneath for protection and use a rotary cutter. It cuts very clean, smooth. I had to cut burlap fabric for table runners and it worked wonderful!

    Great tutorial! I need to try this! :)

  17. 17

    Where did you get the clip on curtain rings? I am definitely going to be trying this project!! I never did anything like this before – but I think I can handle it!!

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  20. 20

    Hi Wendy,

    I am planning on trying your method to make curtains for our nursery and I have a question :) How would you suggest/ Do you think I could add fabric liner? – I was thinking I could cut a more narrow section of liner (by about around 3/4″), iron the liner onto the fabric with the adhesive and then follow your directions — What do you think?

    Thanks so much!

  21. 21

    Hi Kelly!

    I think that will work just fine. I did not prewash my fabric and the heatnbond ultra still worked just fine. My fabric is 100% cotton. If your liner is some other blend with poly, for example, you may want to prewash it. Other than that, your plan sounds like it will work wonderfully, and that is exactly how I would do it.

    ~Wendy

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  23. 23

    Great look and tutorial! I’m a sewer but sometimes prefer to use heat bonding on certain hems when I don’t want stitching to show or for a quick school or kids project. Just a word of caution to anyone using it on a light-weight fabric, the ultra is very strong and really melts into the fabric and might show on the “right” side of fabric. So do a test on a snip of fabric first and use a lighter bonding product if necessary.

  24. 24

    We just installed no sew curtains in our bedroom. I can’t believe how well they turned out and how easy the no sew technique was! We detailed our experience at our blog. This is something I’ll definitely try again.

    Thanks for sharing your curtains. I love that fabric!

  25. 25

    We just had a new PVC window installed in the nursery and I had been wanting to make some curtains before the baby arrived. I followed this guide and they turned out great! Thanks for the tips :)

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  27. Pingback: No Sew Curtains: A DIY Project | Ramblings of A Suburban Mom
  28. 28

    These are great! Just wanted to let you know I featured these on my blog today, in an article about the many different types and techniques of “no-sew” window treatments.

    -Erin
    diyonthecheap.blogspot.com

  29. Pingback: Nursery Decor on the Cheap: 5 Tips | Maternity Ward | a mySA.com blog
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