Top tips for sewing your own curtains

Measure windows carefully. To work out how much fabric you need, measure the height between the curtain rod and the ground, then add 300 mm for the header and hem. For the width, allow at least two-and half times the width of the window, with three times being the ideal.

Choose good-quality materials that are easy to work with and you’ll save time. Slippery fabric, for example, is very difficult to sew because you need to tack it by hand before machine sewing it together, to ensure that your seams are straight and that the fabric doesn’t pucker.

Consider buying a close-weave fabric, to avoid the need for lining, and steer clear of fabrics where the pattern must match – it can eat up hours of your time trying to get it to look right!

Choose a fabric that can be machine washed, rather than a dryclean- only fabric, because it’s faster and cheaper to launder it yourself.

Wash the curtain fabric before you cut it. This is very important as it stabilises the fabric and allows you to wash the curtains after they have been hung for a while, without the risk of them shrinking.

From: 10,001 Time Saving Ideas