Idiot's Guide to Shortening Lined Curtains

busymumof3

I am finally getting around to hanging curtains in a couple of rooms after being in our house over a year. Do have blinds up so It is not as bad as it sounds!

I have borrowed a sewing machine from a friend and have managed to shorten a pair of ready made unlined curtains without too much trouble. My next job is to tackle shortening a pair of lined curtains that I had made to measure for our old dining room. These were hugely expensive from John Lewis and I don't want to make a bodge of it. Part of me says it can't be that difficult and the other half wants to pop them in for alteration!

THey are a sand coloured plain fabric and goblet pleated. I only need to shorten them, thankfully the width is fine. The lining is fixed at the sidea and loose at the bottom.

I have no idea how to start. Can anyone give VERY simple instructions or point me towards an idiot's guide on-line please?

Would be very grateful as these are now hanging in our bedroom and there is about a foot of excess material which doesn't look very pretty!

poppie,s_dream

When shortening a pair of curtains to retain the original tidy hem dont cut them at the bottom, simply remove the heading tape cut off the excess length at the top and then simply turn over a small allowance and replace the heading tape, you are then left with the original professional hem!!

poppie
xxx

busymumof3

Hi Poppie

That sounds like it makes excellent sense even to such a novice like me. My only problem with it would be that the curtains are goblet pleated (for which I paid a lot more!) and I would be replacing that with pencil pleated with the new heading tape presumably. Is it a lot more complicated to shorten from the bottom?

sophistica

Extra long curtains are very fashionable right now so think twice before you shorten if they are on the floor. To shorten from the bottom do this:
1. Measure from the track to the floor and decide how much on the floor you want them - I would say a minimum of 3-4 inches and I would do much more (curtains look cheap and nasty if they clear the floor). Unpick or cut the old hem off and allow 6 inches for the hem plus the amount on the floor.
2. Go to your ironing board with a tape measure and fold the hem over by 3 inches and press. Then fold over again (another 3 inches) and press and pin.
3. Then iron the curtain edge and mitre the corners (this is scientific and you will need to look on the internet to see what I mean by mitre) easy to do but difficult to explain.
4. Use blanket stitich to sew the hem in place and slip stitch to sew the mitres.
5. Use and invisible stitch to attach the lining to the curtain.

Go to the library and get a book on curtain making - you will never regret learning to do this properly and it is really easy.

busymumof3

Thanks sophistica

Appreciate that overlong curtains can look good but believe me these don't. They don't drape as they are quite stiff with the lining and best I can describe is that they bunch unattractively or else if I try to sweep to the side artistically a lot of lining is in view. Fed up tripping over them too.

Will try and follow your stepped instructions. Thanks again.

I also plan to make a pelmet for the kitchen window so think I may have to acquire a curtains by numbers book.

poppie,s_dream

gosh busymumof3 just done a google on goblet top (never heard of this before) and they look fantastic no wonder you're wary of cutting the tops and trying to replace the heading as sophistica said trying to explain how to do it from the bottom to get a good finish is hard especially as they are lined too.
let us know what you decide or if you managed it.
poppie
xxxx

busymumof3

Thanks poppie

Haven't been brave enough to attempt it yet. Still trying to work out how to change the foot on the sewing machine to the blind hemming one. I think I'll put in a bit of sewing practise beforehand as I haven't used a sewing machine since school days.

Do you have any advice for making a very simple pelmet? I have a horizontally striped fabric that I was going to line. My idea is to make a kind of false roman blind (I am not overlooked so don't actually want a blind just a bit of interest for the window) ie. one fold in the fabric held at the back by invisible stitching if I can work this out. It would simply be the width of the window, no pleats or gathers and have a drop of 30-40 cm say. I was going to attach to the existing baton with velcro. Does this sound ok to you?

Can you tell how confident I feel about this!

poppie,s_dream

that sounds like a great idea, so the fold in the fabric would be just for decoration? so it looks like it's permanantly half up/half down. the other option you could do is sew four lengths of rope two at the front two at the back two on the left two on the right and gather fabric up and tie bows at the bottom. i myself wouldn't bother with the blind hem foot of the machine i've had my machine 20 odd years and could never work out how it worked. test on odd peices of material and soon there will be no stopping you.

poppie

baby_fuzz

poppie,s_dream wrote: »

When shortening a pair of curtains to retain the original tidy hem dont cut them at the bottom, simply remove the heading tape cut off the excess length at the top and then simply turn over a small allowance and replace the heading tape, you are then left with the original professional hem!!

poppie
xxx

I know that this was ages ago that this thread was last posted on, but just wanted to say thanks, cos I just attempted taking up my curtains, and it helped a lot! Whilst my sewing is not brilliant, it made for a neater finish, and the pelmet that we have hides all my wonky sewing (on the ancient sewing maching that I borrowed - not that I'm blaming my tools :rotfl: )...