Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Curtains with Eyelet Rings (Step 1) ...

Some pre-made curtains I liked were only available with a tape heading. As I wanted to hang them on a pole, I've decided to alter them for use with rings. I'll be using Rufflette Jupiter rings but not the tape as recommended - the curtains have attached linings & are medium-weight polyester ones. (If you're interested in having a go too, you'll also need a length of medium sew-in interfacing as per the width of the chosen curtain. This is being used to stabilize the upper edge.)



This is the reverse side of the original headed curtains showing the tape stitched across the upper edge.

Carefully unpick this & remove it, discarding any loose threads from the curtain.



Here the tape has been removed & shows the folded upper edge which will be retained & later used for seaming.

(The curtain SHOULD NOT YET BE PRESSED - the old fold lines will be used as stitching guides.)

Turn the curtain inside out with right sides facing one another. 





Cut the interfacing into a 8"/20cm wide strip - length to be the width of the curtain.

Mark a line down the centre of the entire length of the strip (shown here in red).
This line will be a stitching guideline.




Position the curtain with main curtain fabric uppermost. Matching the fold lines of both curtain & lining, pin them together, ensuring both fabrics lay perfectly flat.









Place the interfacing along the upper edge of the curtain, matching the marked centre of the interfacing to the foldline of the curtain.

Ensure the interfacing is perfectly flat & pin in place.

Stitch through all thicknesses, following the marked guideline on the interfacing.








Fold the upper layer of the interfacing back on itself, to reveal the upper seam allowances.
This double layer of interfacing will ensure the upper edge of the finished curtain remains flat in hanging. Additionally, it will provides firmness for the rings when stitching the holes for them & when securing them finally in place.












Trim the seam raw edges to appx. 0.5"/1cm.

Turn curtain to right side & lightly press upper edges in position.





The NEXT STEPS are to add rings which I'll be doing in the next few days. I'm ALSO hoping to get some experiments with machine embroidery started & the curtain off-cuts & non-woven interfacings are ideal to start with ................... they're ideally suited to the "cells project" which can be seen here.






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