Modern Curtain Ideas

Custom-made, lined curtain panels can be expensive, but a creative homeowner can borrow techniques from a professional drapery maker and construct panels that are of custom quality. The secret is in preparation. The tools and tricks used by a drapery maker can be adapted to your own sewing room, helping produce a custom curtain to enhance your decor.

The Work Surface
Having a work surface large enough to cut and press the panels without moving them makes the job easier and will result in a straighter panel. It is unrealistic to expect professional-looking results using a standard ironing board. Professional handling of the panels dictates that they be moved as little as possible during cutting and preparation. Prepare a work surface using one-half-inch plywood to provide a solid base. Make it large enough to accommodate the length of a cut panel and a minimum of 48 inches wide. For example, lining panels cut to 54-by-108 inches require a work surface of the same measurements. Cover this surface with one-eighth-inch cotton quilt batting stretched taut and stapled on the underside. Cover the batting with a tight wrap of cotton fabric, also stapled to the underside.

Cutting
In garment construction, the fabric must be cut on the grain, but in drapery, all material -- either decor fabric or lining fabric -- must be cut straight and the grain is secondary. This is one of the most important steps in successful panel construction. Start with a straight cut edge by using a carpenters square. Lay the short arm of the square along the selvage of the piece, with the long arm extending into the width of the material. Use a long straight edge -- an 8-by-1-by-2-foot board works well -- to extend the long arm of your straight edge. Draw a line with a self-erasing marking pen, and cut on that line. Working on the wrong side of the material, measure from the cut edge to the required length on one length edge, and place a mark at that point. Measure up from the bottom at the center of the panel, place a mark, and measure up on the remaining outside edge and mark. Connect the three marks and cut on that line.

Preshrinking
If the lining fabric contains cotton, preshrink it by laundering and machine drying, or having it dry-cleaned or steaming it. This will prevent the lining from shrinking after the panel is constructed.

Needles and Pins
Use a small, sharp new needle in the sewing machine when sewing the lining material hem, if it is a tightly woven fabric. Puckers and pulls along the seam line are avoidable with a microtech needle. Similarly, use long, fine straight pins for pinning.

Hems
The lining is treated as a separate entity in a lined curtain panel; it is attached only at the sides and top. This allows the lining to hang free along the bottom, decreasing the possibility of ripples or wrinkles and allowing minimal shrinkage of the face fabric material. Turn and press the hem of the lining material before moving it off the work surface. Measure from the top of the panel to the hem line at each outside edge and at the center of the panel, then fold the hem up the appropriate amount. Lay the long side of the straight edge close and parallel to the fold as a straight reference.

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