Add some pizzazz and color to any room by making your own window treatment. This is a fun and easy project that even a beginner seamstress can handle.
A few years back we remodeled our home and added some space onto the back. One of the things we added was a new laundry room. I am a total light freak and love the lighting in this room, and I love that I don’t have to go into the dreary basement anymore to do laundry.
There are two windows in the corner of my laundry room and in my door. I wanted to add some color to the crisp white planked walls with some kind of window treatment.
At first, I thought about making roman blinds for these windows. I have made them before and they are kinda fun to make, but I am into EASY these days, and a roman blind looks like this when it is pulled up anyway. Why should I waste the fabric yardage, my time, and any frustration that may come along with a more intense project such as a pleated roman blind?
This window treatment works really well for windows that are inset, meaning they are not flush with the interior walls.
Here is a picture of the laundry room before the window treatment.
After
Look at what a LITTLE fabric and a LITTLE bit of time can do!
While I was sewing I thought I would take some photos and share with you how QUICK and EASY this was to make up.
What you will need for this easy DIY window treatment:
- FABRIC (measuring instructions below) I used a duck cloth piece of fabric for this window, which is a little like canvas. Any woven fabric will work. If it is a thinner, lightweight fabric you may want to use a piece of interfacing to give it some structure.
- SEWING MACHINE
- a piece of wood trim measuring 3/4 x 1/2 inch x window width. (measuring instructions below)
- drill
- 1 5/8 inch screws
- 7/16 inch dowel the width of your treatment (optional)
- staple gun or glue adhesive
- rotary cutter or scissors
- safety pins (optional)
How to measure fabric:
Measure the INSIDE MOUNT width of the window and ADD 1 INCH for seam allowance.
Then decide how long you want the valance to hang down and double that amount then ADD 1 1/2 inches. Mine hangs down 10 inches. So I cut my fabric 21 1/2 inches.
Cutting Out:
Cut out the fabric using a rotary cutter or scissors.
*TIP: use a safety pin to mark the edges of the fabric that are the WINDOW WIDTH measurements. I suggest this because it can be real easy to get these mixed up especially if you have a square window.
Sewing:
Fold the fabric with Right Sides Together with the WIDTH of the fabric at the top. (safety pins should be at the top)
Sew the side seams using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Clip the bottom corners.
Turn and Press:
Turn the fabric inside out and press the edges out real smooth.
Hold the fabric up and if you feel it hangs nicely you can move on. If you find it doesn’t hang flat you can either stiffen it up a bit using some iron-on interfacing or use the method below using a small dowel.
*TIP: If you are using a lightweight fabric, you can insert a small dowel (7/16) cut the width minus about a 1/4 inch into the bottom of the valance. This will give it some weight to hang down straight instead of being limp.
Finish the top edge to prevent fraying with a serger, or on a regular machine just use a zigzag stitch.
Board Preparation:
You will need to drill some holes in the wood strip before applying the fabric. Measure about 3 1/2 -4 inches from the edges and one hole in the center. If your window is pretty wide, you may need a few more holes to secure the wood strip tightly to the top of the window casing. If you have a countersinking tool, that works great, if not, no biggie.
The holes that you drill should coincide with the screws you are using.
Applying the fabric to the wood strip:
Line up the top edge of the fabric with the edge of the wood strip and make sure the fabric is also lined up with the side edge of the wood or else the wood will show.
Hold securely in place while you staple it using a staple gun. If you do not have a staple gun, you can secure in place using a good adhesive and some clamps to hold in place while it dries.
You may need to use a hammer to flatten any stubborn staples that didn’t get stapled flat.
Inserting the window treatment to the window casing:
Get a drill and 1 5/8 inch screws handy.
The wood strip and fabric should fit snug against the edges of your casing. You may want some help doing this part if you have a wide window.
Fold the fabric up while you, or someone else, screws in the screws. (Keep the wood strip flush with the wall edges).
Tadah! Gotta love it, baby.
What a fun way to add some pizzazz to any room.
Want a tour of my laundry room? Check out this post.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Have fun sewing!
Jan Howell
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Jan Howell
Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.
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