It's not as difficult to do as it might seem.The living room is the main room in the house, its face. And the windows are the "eyes" of the house, always attracting the gaze of people in the room. Without window decoration, the living room looks unfinished, and correctly selected curtains transform the room, make it complete.
Correctly selected curtains will decorate the interiorrooms and protect the room from sunlight. Curtains are thick curtains - drapes that block sunlight during the day and protect from street lights and prying eyes at night, and light transparent curtains. Usually one window is covered by 2 curtains and 2 drapes.
Scheme of the side lambrequin.The pattern, color and shape of the curtains set the mood and image of the living room, but this does not mean that you need to choose them only with the help of a designer, and sew them necessarily in a studio. Romantic or classic style, modern or hi-tech - curtains will emphasize any of them. The color of the curtains and drapes should be in harmony with the color of the walls and furniture. If the curtains have a decorative pattern, then they will go well with tulle without a pattern, and vice versa. A large pattern looks impressive in spacious rooms, and if the living room is narrow, then a plain fabric of light colors will help to visually enlarge the room. You can make curtains with your own hands even when you do not have a sewing machine at hand. In this case, you can use a ready-made tape on an adhesive base to process the sides, bottom and top of the canvas.
Calculation of width and length of curtains, processing of sides
The process of making a curtain.Calculating the width of curtains is easy. The simplest and most economical calculation option: the width of the canvas is equal to the length of the cornice or the width of the window (if the cornice has not yet been selected). Draperies and curtains with drapery and deep folds will add solemnity and elegance to the living room. In this case, the gathering coefficient is used when calculating the width. The larger it is, the more noticeable the drapery, the deeper the folds on the canvas of the finished curtains. The gathering coefficient can be from 1.5 to 2 or 3. Then we multiply the width of the window (or the length of the cornice) by the desired coefficient. If the sides of the canvas are not processed, we add another 2 - 3 cm from each for the hem. For example, if the length of the cornice or the width of the window is 130 cm and the curtains will consist of two curtains with deep folds, and the sides need to be processed, then you will need 130 * 2 + allowance for hemming the sides (2 + 2 + 2 + 2) + 4 cm for the overlap of two panels in the center of the window = 272 cm.
Roman blind pattern.If the calculation is made not by the length of the cornice, but by the width of the window, then it should be taken into account that for the living room, the option is well suited when the curtains go onto the walls on both sides of the window by 10 - 15 cm. For example, the calculated width of the curtains is 272 cm + the overlap on the walls is 15 + 15 (30 cm) = 302 cm. It should be taken into account that a denser curtain fabric will look good even with a gathering coefficient of 1.5 - 2. However, curtains made of tulle and organza look better when they are not stretched, but form waves of lush folds, therefore, when calculating the width of a light curtain, it is preferable to use a coefficient of at least 2 - 3. Another nuance: on the sides of curtains made of tulle or organza, the hem should not exceed 1 cm, otherwise the edges of the transparent fabric will look unsightly. For example, the width of the window or the length of the cornice is 130 cm, then the width of the curtain rod is 130*3=290, plus 1 cm on each side for the hem (if the curtain rod is not divided into two parts): 290 +1+1= 292 cm.
Curtain pattern.If the living room is spacious, then curtains with drapery look more impressive, but in any case, the assembly coefficient is a matter of taste. The length of the curtains is equal to the distance from the cornice to the floor, since most often in the living room they are made flush with the floor or 1 cm higher to avoid wear of the edge. An increase of another 5 - 10 cm will allow you to use a grab or garter as a curtain decoration. Then the extra centimeters of the length of the canvas will help to create a beautiful drapery on the sides of the window. It should be taken into account that when processing the bottom of curtains and drapes, the hem of the fabric is greater than when processing the sides. At the bottom, the curtains are folded by about 10 - 15 cm in order to further insure against shrinkage of the fabric, which can be up to 10% of the height if the washing mode is chosen incorrectly. In addition, a large hem at the bottom acts as a kind of fabric weight. If the fabric is not very dense, you can process the edge with adhesive tape "spider web", thanks to which you can make an even hem along the tape itself without basting or pins. The edge of the fabric is folded along the tape and ironed.
Calculation of fabric for curtains.The top can also be finished with a simple hem if a curtain tape will be sewn to it or the curtains will be attached with clips. Another point to consider when determining the width and length of the curtains is the fabric pattern. If there is a pronounced repeating pattern, then it is necessary to make an allowance so that the repeating element of the pattern, which is called the rapport, is not cut off. Materials and tools:
- centimeter, ruler;
- the cloth;
- thread;
- chalk or pencil;
- scissors;
- sewing machine;
- iron;
- curtain tape (if the option of fastening on hooks is chosen);
- eyelets (if the option of fastening on the eyelets is chosen).
Return to Contents</a>
Curtains on the kulisk
Figure 1. Curtain with drawstring.A drawstring is one of the simplest ways to attach curtains to windows, but this does not mean that this design option is not suitable for the main room in the house. Curtains with a drawstring will fit into any room design style, they look good on arched or panoramic windows. You can also choose any fabric - from heavy curtains to light and airy. A drawstring is a pocket-“sleeve” at the top of the canvas, into which a round cornice is threaded. No hooks, loops, curtain tapes. This option is suitable for those who decided to make curtains with their own hands for the first time. The main thing is to determine the width of the drawstring so that the cornice fits freely into the “sleeve”. The width of the drawstring is equal to the length of the cornice circumference multiplied by 2 + 1 cm. If desired, you can make curtains on a drawstring with a so-called comb, which looks better if its height does not exceed 5 cm. Then we fold the fabric to the width of the drawstring and add the desired height of the comb. In this case, having made a double hem at the top of the curtain, the first line for the drawstring should be laid, stepping back from above by the desired width of the future comb. What the drawstring looks like can be seen in the picture (Fig. 1). Return to the table of contents</a>
Curtains with eyelets
Figure 2. Curtain with eyelets.Curtains with eyelets - metal or plastic rings that squeeze the hole in the fabric - will look very impressive in the living room. They are attached to rod curtain rods. Eyelets allow you to achieve even folds and free movement of curtains along the rod. Eyelets come in different shapes, making them a decoration in themselves. The inner diameter of the eyelet should be larger than the diameter of the rod, which should be taken into account when buying. Before punching the eyelets, the top of the curtain fabric should be prepared. To do this, the edge of the fabric must be folded three times, placing the eyelet tape inside; you can use interlining. The width of the tape should be 2 - 4 cm larger than the outer diameter of the eyelet on each side. The adhesive tape should be glued with an iron on top. The sealing tape without an adhesive base can be stitched from the inside.
Example of pattern construction.It is important to remember that the number of eyelets must be even - in this case, the edges of the curtain will be turned towards the window, and not into the room. To make the folds look good, the eyelets should be distributed at a distance of 15-22 cm from each other, and the first and last - at a distance of 5-7 cm from the edge. The fewer the eyelets, the deeper the folds of the curtain. Having placed the eyelets at a distance of 2 cm from the top edge of the canvas, you need to outline the inner diameter of the eyelets with chalk or a pencil, along which a hole is cut with scissors. Attention! The hole should not be cut exactly along the drawn line, but wider by about 1-2 mm, so that the eyelet can then snap tightly. What finished curtains on eyelets look like, how to correctly arrange the tape and eyelets on the canvas, can be seen in the picture (Fig. 2). Return to the table of contents</a>
Curtains on curtain tape
This is a classic option for hanging curtains.The hooks of the curtain rod are threaded into special pockets of the tape. The laces laid in the tape are pulled together, and folds are formed on the fabric. A thick tape will hold the folds better on a heavier curtain fabric. The length of the tape is equal to the width of the finished curtain (curtain) with the sides fixed, plus 5-8 cm for the hem of the tape itself on both sides. It should be noted that it is better to steam white curtain tapes before sewing, as they can shrink significantly after washing.
Figure 3. Types of curtain tape assembly.You can see what the curtain tape looks like in the picture (Fig. 3). The curtain fabric should be laid out on the table with the front side up, pin the tape to the edge of the fabric, where the sides are already sewn. Fold the tape by 2-3 cm on each side. Sew the curtain tape at a distance of 1.5 mm from its bottom edge. Then fold the tape to the wrong side so that it is not visible from the front side of the curtain, leave an allowance of 3 mm, secure with pins. Sew the side, having first released the laces, holding them so as not to accidentally sew. Sew with a second line at a distance of 1.5 mm from the bottom edge of the tape. If the width of the curtain tape is more than 4 cm, then in order for it to hold better, at the final stage you can sew it to the fabric with a third line laid in the middle of the tape. When the tape is sewn on, the laces on its edges need to be tied, then pulled together, resulting in folds on the curtain. All that remains is to hang the finished curtain on the hooks of the curtain rod. The pleasure of the process of transforming the living room, the enjoyment of creativity, as well as the opportunity to save a lot of money - enough motivation to make curtains for the living room with your own hands.
