I purchased a long metal wall art piece when a local store was going out of business. It looked like ivy on tree branches and I was looking for a good place for it. When I held it up to the top of the window, I knew I had found it a home. Really looked nice. I have gotten a lot of comments and some have said they would never have thought to use it in that way.
By Wanda from Climax, NC
This page contains the following solutions.
I took a dust ruffle from a bed and cut it lengthwise first for the length of the window. I had 2 windows side by side. I left enough of the white part of the sheet to make into tabs because I don't sew.
I don't care for curtains, so I came up with this solution for a valance above my sliding glass doors. I purchased 2, 5-foot artist canvas stretchers and 2, 1-foot stretchers to form a rectangle.
While I was washing my kitchen curtain, I decided to experiment. I layered three cloth napkins, that match my kitchen wallpaper, on my curtain rod for a new look.
I thought of this cute idea for a kitchen or bathroom valance. I am using dinner cloth napkins and will fold them into triangle shapes and simply put them over any rod to make a great valance.
To make quick and cheap curtain valances take a dust ruffle from a bed and remove the lower ruffle, flip down about 2-3 inches along the top cut side and sew it down on the machine. The rest of the curtain will already have a nice finished edge.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I need an easy pattern and measuring instructions for valances (balloon or plain). I want to makes some for my bedrooms and for the living room, ND maybe the stairwell window. I am a very novice sewer, haven't done a project in 12 years!
Im glad you asked this I'm sure alot of us would like to know this...
Im not a sewer at all, I have a sewing machine for rips and tears.. in
I have seen design examples where they used colorful napkins placed on the curtain rod as a valance of sorts - no sewing required. I would also suggest using a swag of material across the top of the curtain - you would just have to put up the supports at the corners. Again, practially no sewing required.
The valances I have seen on the market are just big ruffles. I am sure you could just make a piece, put in some elastic in a tube and scrunch it together for a simple valance of sorts.
Use twin sized flat sheets. Depending on how wide the windows are, you may want to cut the sheet legnthwise as opposed to widthwise. The advantage to cutting the width of the sheet is that you really don't have to make a side seam. Decide how long you want the valence, double it and add about 5" for seams and a top ruffle before cutting the sheet - if you use wider than a standard rod, you'll have to add a few more inches to the strip you cut. If you need to make side seams, this is when to do it.
If you'd like to be a bit fancier, try this site: www.alternative-windows.com/
Thanky you! I like the Sheets idea....a little less expensive on the fabric.
This may help you:
Here are a few more pages to help measure for windows:
Measuring for valances:
www.prioritywindows.com/
Measuring for draperies:
www.prioritywindows.com/
Measuring for fabric shades:
www.prioritywindows.com/
Hope that helps.
