Making Curtains Longer

I have beautiful draperies that are on a wall that goes all the way up to the second story in my den. There are two sets of windows on the wall one above the other. I originally made the curtains and valance just on the bottom set of windows (they are 121 inches high) and now I realize I should have gone all the way up to the top of the second window.

Is there a tasteful way to add more yardage to these curtains vertically and have it look tasteful? Hope this makes sense.

Amy from TX

Answers:

Making Curtains Longer

If the fabric isn't too heavy, I think you could sew an additional piece of fabric in a contrasting color or print onto the bottom of your existing drapes. The key to getting a finished look may be to cover the seam with some sort of braid or trim. Assuming the original drapes are a solid color, I'd probably look for a print that has the color in it, then use a second color of trim, also selected from the colors in the print. (07/31/2008)

By ChloeA

Making Curtains Longer

You could do a section of lace even on the drapes. I added fabric to the bottom of my kitchen curtains. Then to cover up where I had to add on I put another fabric that went along with the pattern over this area. You can not tell this was an add on.

One more idea. Look at drapes that are already made in catalogs or in the store. You can get ideas from just looking at those. I do this and then go home and make my own.

Rosemary (07/31/2008)

By Rosemary

Making Curtains Longer

You could put a panel of different fabric in the middle of the curtains for an interesting effect. Also you could sew contrasting tabs on the top of the curtain to lengthen a bit. (08/01/2008)

By Kim Churchman

Making Curtains Longer

I have a set of drapes that I had to lengthen considerably for my living room windows. They had a permanently attached valance which I simply undid the stitching and allowed the valance to become part of the original drape. This proved to be too short so I divided each drapery panel in half; added a coordinating lacy fabric piece to each panel half with a "flat fell seam" and added some tabs to the top of each panel.

I made the tabs from the coordinating fabric to keep them "matching". It took me more time to undo the seams than it did to write this. Good luck. (08/19/2008)

By mepixie1