Are you stuck in the process of making DIY curtains?
No worries, we got you! You need to hem a curtain in three different aspects, hemming the bottom, hemming the side, and hemming with the linings.
Let’s go over them in turn.
Cautions
Ironing
Whenever you are using the hemming tape, you should always use a damp cloth to avoid burning the fabric of your curtain. Also, take care of the heat. All the fabrics don’t resist the same degree of heat. You can change the degree of heat on your iron machine.
In some of the iron machines, there is labeling for the different fabrics; you can follow that and set the heat for your curtain fabric. If you don’t see labeling in the iron, you can follow the user’s manual of your iron machine.
The Sides First
When you are making curtains, you should always start with the sides if you are new to all these because it is easier to set the bottom after doing the sides. Some people do go for the bottoms at the beginning. Then, I guess they find it convenient that way, and they are mostly the pro sewists.
Hemming The Sides
First, make sure you have enough fabric for the double folded hem because curtain hems are heavy at the sides if you didn’t know already.
Step 1
Start folding the sides by layers. You should iron each layer, so they sit perfectly on the curtain body. Next, pin the folds gradually to hold them in place.
Step 2
Before you start stitching, you need to set the lining now. Take the lining, and set it under the last of the hems on both sides. You can make use of hem-tape here. It will make the stitching process easier.
Step 3
Now prepare the sewing machine, and consider using the thread color as close to the color of your curtains. Also, don’t stitch on both sides of the folds. Stitch the edges that you have inside the curtain body.
Hemming The Bottom
Here again, you should have enough fabric to fold it double. The standard size is for the sides of a curtain 1 and ½ inches. So, you should take fabric twice that size for the sides.
To get a double folded hem, you need to cut the curtains a little longer than their actual size. Also, the longer the whole curtain is, the wider the bottom hemming requires should be. Otherwise, the curtain will not look good.
The standard size for the hem is 3 to 4 inches. So, you need to cut the curtain 6 to 8 inches longer for the hem. If you want a shorter hem, then you should go for 2 inches and cut the curtain 4 inches longer for the hem.
Step 1
Place curtain fabric on the floor or a big table. Actually, it depends on the size of the curtains you are making. Select the place according to the size of the curtains. But, don’t go for a place that is smaller than the actual curtain size. Otherwise, it will be tough to end the process of folding and ironing.
Step 3
Take the iron machine and fold the bottom sides of the curtains. As we said earlier, the hem needs folded double. Now, go ahead and iron the bottom by folding it in double in size. Next, pin the folded hem to keep them in place.
Step 4
Now, take the curtain to the sewing machine and stitch the hem. If you are not using lining on your curtains, then you can simply do the hemming at the bottom the way we directed here.
Step 5
You can use hem tape if you want. In that case, first, you need to stitch the hem in one fold. Then, when you go for the second fold to make it double folded, you can put the hem tape under that fold.
You need to use an iron to add the fold with hem tape. Place a damp cloth on the fabric and press the iron for 10 seconds, and the hem tape will be attached to the fold together. This is the actual process of adding the folds with hem tape.
Although there are adhesive hemp tapes, you recommend you don’t use that one. Because you might want to alter the curtain in the future, if you are using the adhesive tape, you clearly can’t alter it.
Step 6
Finally, stitch the hem by the edge that is directed towards the topside of the curtain.
Hemming The Linings
The hem of the curtain linings should be 1 inch narrower than the hem of the curtain. So, cut accordingly by adjusting the length of the curtains. We have talked about stitching the bottom and sides of the curtains at the beginning.
But, you actually stitch the bottoms, sides, and lining together, if you are using linings. And, if you are making a curtain without linings, then the first two parts are separated for you. However, let’s see how we stitch curtains with linings.
Step 1
First, fold the sides, bottoms of the curtain, also the sides and bottom of the linings.
Step 2
When you are done folding, you need to put the linings inside the curtain folds. Then, you need to pin them together to iron them nicely.
Step 3
Now, take an iron and unpin the folds gradually. Once you are done ironing and setting the folds, you can start stitching the folds.
You can use hem tape here as well. When you are using hem tape, do use an extra cloth above it and make the cloth damp before you start ironing.
Final Words
When you are stitching with the linings on, you should always go for the sides first. Also, insides stitch the inner edges. After that, you can go to the bottom part of the curtains. At the bottom as well, stitch the inner side, not the edges by the ends. And, always make sure you are folding the curtains by double layers to make proper hems.