How to Make Quick and Easy Curtains

Moving away from home for the first time can be both exciting and overwhelming. What a joyful occasion it is when you begin the process of establishing your new home. Looking for and buying that perfect piece of furniture that will complete your living room set. At last purchasing that small dining table and chairs you have admiring at the local furniture store for months. At last all the furniture has been purchased and arranged in perfect order. Now it is time to consider coverings for the windows in your apartment.

If you are lucky the last tenant may have left there old curtains or the landlord may furnish the apartment with mini blinds. But what happens if all you have are bare windows and you have totaled your budget buying the furniture for your new apartment? There are several options open to you that will allow you to cover those windows at a small cost.

The first step in beginning your search for new curtains is to determine there use. Now this may sound like a foolish statement but let's consider. Are the curtains only being used for window dressing and will remain open all of the time? Will they be used in areas that you will need extra privacy, such as, the bathroom or bedroom. The room in which the curtains are located and their desire use will determine fabric needs, liners, etc.

Once you have answered these questions than you are ready to begin your search for the materials to design and construct the perfect curtains for your new apartment or home. Remember the budget has been stretched fairly tight with the purchase of the furniture, so were do you look for curtains or materials to make your own?

One of the best places to look is at your local Goodwill Store. Sometimes you can find ready made curtains for pennies on the dollar. If you can't locate the curtains that you need than go into the bedding area. Look for colorful printed sheets or beautiful solids. You may even come across an old comforter is you know you may have a particularly cold apartment in the winter. Don't sew? No worries....you can make a decent curtain with something called fusible fabric and an iron or even glue. . To figure how much fabric you need. , measure both the length and width of your window. Take the measurements with you and your tape measure to the store. Figure on needing about 2 and half times of fabric to cover the width of your window. The length can be determined by adding approximately 10-12 inches to the measured length of the window. This gives you some room for 4 inch hem at the bottom and a 4 inch hem on top. You will actually be turning the fabric all the way around the piece of fabric to finish the seam. The amount you turn over will be determined by the sized of fusible fabric you get. This stuff comes in all sorts of widths; however the one inch width seems to work well. This is a little wider than what you would use if you have a sewing machine but the wider piece is easier to work with. Follow the instructions on the back of the fusible fabric package. Make sure you do this all the way around the piece of fabric.

Now you can put in the 4 inch hem on the bottom. Glue can be used with fusible fabric. If glue is your choice, don't bother with the water soluble stuff like Elmer's. That choice would come back to haunt you as the curtains will not be washable. There is a product the can be specifically used on fabrics and you should be able to locate it at the local craft store. Once you are done with the bottom, do the top the same way. Yes there really is no bottom or top for an easy curtain. Just do one end and then the other.

Window treatment hardware, a fancy name for curtain rods, is available in a wide range of styles and colors, to suit any decorating plan. When you make your selection, however, be careful to consider the both decorative and functional needs of your curtain rod. Probably the easiest type rod to use is the tension rod. This type is available in a variety of widths. . They are held in place by the pressure of an adjustable spring inside the rod and are placed on the inside of the window frame. Check once again at your local Goodwill for these. The can also be readily found at garage sales.

Insert the rod into the top hem, and adjust the tension rod. Slide it into the inside frame of your window and you are finished!