Barbara Farkas Casey - Making Country-Style Curtains

by Barbara Farkas Casey

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Casey, Barbara Farkas

Making country-style curtains / by Barbara Farkas Casey
A Storey Publishing Bulletin, A-98
ISBN 0-88266-487-5

About two years ago, my husband Chris and I purchased a circa 1860 Cape Cod home in desperate need of renovation. Nonstandard-sized windows, a limited budget, and a desire for a customized country look were the inspiration for making my own curtains. Friends, family, and even my husband thought I was crazy taking on this addition project amidst the million and one other things we were involved in at the time, yet the extra effort was definitely worthwhile. We love the results!

Youll be amazed at how quickly and inexpensively you can change the entire look of a room by creating your own custom curtains. Youll be free to choose a fabric for your curtains that coordinates with a particular wallpaper and/or an upholstered piece of furniture you especially like. Extra fabric can be used to make an occasional accent piece such as a throw pillow, runner for your table, or seat covers for your chairs additions that will tie a room together. Youll achieve a personalized look without the costly expense of a decorator. Guests to your home are sure to notice these special touches; youll be so proud of your efforts when they do!

By following the directions in this bulletin, you can create your own custom curtains. The two basic styles covered in this book should equip you with the fundamentals of curtain design which will allow you to move on to create your own unique window solutions.

After mastering the techniques outlined in the following pages, you need do nothing more than let your imagination go. Ive seen wonderful shower curtains made from colorful bed sheets, an isolated window decorated with a valance, a straight curtain made from an antique lace tablecloth, and great looks accomplished with a simple valance combined with a coordinating miniblind. The techniques for these specific projects were simple the ideas ingenious!

I hope youre as excited as I am about the decorating possibilities presented by making your own curtains, and that youre eager to get started.

Tools and Materials

pad and pencil
dressmakers chalk
tape measures (preferably 1 cloth, and 1 metal tape measure or yardstick)
straight pins
sewing machine (curtains can be sewn by hand; however, theres significantly more time involved)
iron
ironing board
sharp scissors (dressmaker shears are ideal)
large flat cutting surface (a clean hardwood or linoleum floor works well)
fabric and matching thread (quantity youll need will be determined in the following pages)
heavyweight interfacing or drapery buckram (stiffening) for tab curtains only! (See page 10 for amounts.)

Heading: lining that finishes off upper edge of wrong side of tab curtain (finished length is usually four inches)

Seam allowance: the extra edge of fabric allowed for sewing two pieces of fabric together (usually )

Drapery buckram or stiffening: used to add body to the upper edge of tab curtains (usually 34 wide), can be purchased by the yard

I have over ten different styles of curtains in my own home, and they are all variations of two basic designs the traditional straight curtain and the tab curtain. Ill simply refer to them as traditional and tab from here on. As you can see in the diagrams on the following page, their only difference is in the way they are hung from the curtain rod. The traditional has a sewn casing through which the rod is threaded; in the case of the tab, the rod is threaded through the fabric tabs affixed to the upper edge of the curtain.

In the following pages, youll find clear, simply directions that will step you through making these two types of curtains. Youll also be introduced to variations of these designs (some are shown in the illustrations on pages 5 and 6) that are sure to inspire other ideas of your own.

* Appropriate for tab style

As I mentioned before, curtains can change the entire look of a room. The idea is exciting. A few words of caution, however, from an over-enthusiastic ruffler. I love ruffled curtains, and all of my early custom curtains were loaded with ruffles. The curtains were lovely, but they just didnt work in certain rooms. Careful consideration should be given to the style of curtain that is most appropriate for a room. For example, a valance over tier design (See illustration 3, page 5) lets lots of light into a room, and is great for a kitchen. This style also calls for less fabric than most curtains, and if cost-efficiency is a factor, may be the ideal solution for a room with many windows. On the other hand, this style does not offer much privacy, and may not work, for instance, in a bedroom. Instead, a full-length ruffled curtain made of a lovely floral chintz may be ideal for your bedroom; a simple tab muslin curtain may be more suited to your dining room.

A standard extension rod or the brass caf rod can be used for hanging a valance or a traditional straight curtain or tier. The caf rod can also be used for tab curtains; in most cases, however, when hanging tab curtains, I prefer the look of a wooden rod. The only exception I can think of is when youre using tab curtains in a valance over tier design. The bulkier wooden rod would look awkward in this case. Finally, a tension rod can be used to hang traditional curtains on windows with a fairly deep sill, so that the curtain actually hangs inside the window casings.