Ruffle Curtain Tutorial

So, last year I posted about the ruffled burlap and muslin curtain I made for our back door, which opens into the laundry/utility room.  I got an email the other day inquiring about a  tutorial for it.  Looking back at the comments on the original post, I saw that a few people had also been interested in one.  So, better late than never, here's a few quick tips to recreating this look.  Since I did this last summer, I don't have any pictures to go with the steps, so feel free to ask any questions if you find something needs clarifying.

For the Back:
-I started out with a plain piece of white fabric.  (You can use any fabric you like for this step, but if you don't want to line your curtain, I'd suggest you use a fabric that you won't mind seeing from outside the window.  I didn't line mine, so white was best.) 

-Hem each edge of the fabric so it's the size that you want your finished curtain to be.  You don't need to worry about extra width for gathering at this point.

For the Ruffles:
-Each of my ruffles are approx. 4" finished.  For each ruffle, you'll want the piece you're using to be approx. double the width of the curtain. 

-The muslin ruffles I simply ripped and left unfinished since I was going for a bit of a shabby look.

-For the burlap ruffles, I did hem the edges, because burlap frays really easily. 

-To create the ruffles, I used a "ruffler", which is a special foot for my sewing machine.  But, if you don't have one, you simply set your machine to the basting stitch (or the longest stitch length possible), sew along the edge and then pull the bottom thread to gather the material.   

Attaching the Ruffles:
You'll want to make sure you have enough ruffles to cover the entire curtain. 

-Attach the ruffles starting at the bottom.  I overlapped mine a little.   How much you overlap each ruffle is personal preference, but do try to keep it uniform and straight :)  You can sew the ruffles on, or cheat and glue them on. 

-I alternated between muslin and burlap ruffles.  However, you could just use burlap, or perhaps only muslin... or really any fabrics you like.

-Once I got to the top, I folded my last piece of burlap in half lengthwise and then sewed it on, in order to make a pocket for the rod to slip through. 

Hang and admire your handiwork!  I used a piece of lace to tie it together in the center. 

There you go.  I hope these instructions are clear enough.  Like I said at the beginning, if you have any further questions or need more clarification feel free to contact me. 

And... on a side note... it's only 11 days to my due date.  Hopefully our little one will be joining us soon :-)


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