DIY Tabbed Back Chevron Curtains

The hubs better watch out because I am IN LOVE!  Seriously.  I have a new love in my life.  And that love affair is with my new curtains!!!
I hug them.  I caress them.  I whisper sweet nothings to their cute little chevron stripes. 
Ok, so maybe I’m not quite that sick about them.  But I do love them.  A lot.  Do you ever do something to a space in your home and then step back and wonder, “Why didn’t I do this sooner??”.  Yeah, that’s what happened to me this weekend.  As soon as I got my new curtains hung, I looked at the space and wondered why I hadn’t put curtains up sooner!  In my opinion, curtains really add that finishing touch to a space.  They make a space more “homey” and polished!
I have become more and more particular about my curtains.  When we first moved into our home a few years ago, I didn’t really care that much about curtains (or décor in general for that matter).  All of the curtains in our home are pretty plain.  But, I am going to be working on fixing that soon!  But since I have become more particular about curtains, I knew it would be a challenge to find ones that were just right for my breakfast/office nook.  Why do stores sell the most butt-ugly curtains??  And why on God’s green Earth are they so expensive??  I can promise you I will NEVER, EVER pay $80 a panel for curtains.  That’s insane.  And many curtains are even more expensive than that!!  I won’t even pay $30 a panel.  That’s just too much for me. 
Ok….enough blabbing!  Let’s get to the good stuff!!

Um….I’m in love!  Did I say that already?  Just making sure you know!  They are perfect!
I need to remind you all that I just got my sewing machine back in May for Mother’s Day and had not touched a sewing machine since high school prior to that.  I am getting more and more comfortable with my machine and getting a little bit more adventurous with my sewing. 
With that being said, I thought I’d get a little spiffy with my curtains and sew tabs on the back to hang them from (instead of just making a simple pocket at the top for the curtain rod to slide through).  I got the inspiration to do the tabbed curtains from this sweet lady!  I didn’t follow her tutorial exactly, but pretty close.  I did my tabs differently.
I got the fabric for the curtains from a local fabric shop called Chrysalis.  That store is filled with amazing, quality fabrics.  Almost all of the fabrics in there are the really nice 54” (or wider), thick, home décor fabrics.  They had a Groupon a while back for Chrysalis and I jumped on it!  The Groupon was $25 for $50 worth of fabric. 
I knew I wanted chevron so I was hoping I would be able to get enough fabric for the curtains without going too much over the $50.  Lucky for me, the chevron fabric was one of the cheapest fabrics in the store at $12 per yard (they tried to sell me this mustard yellow fabric to do a block at the bottom of the curtains and it was $48 per yard!!!!  Umm….yeah right!!).  I needed 6 yards to do 2 panels.  We have 9 foot ceilings so our curtains have to be at least 95” long in order to reach the baseboards/floor.  The total for all the fabric was a little over $80 so I had to come out of pocket $30.  A little more than I was expecting, but that’s ok because I absolutely love them!

They were pretty easy to sew.  I don’t have a super in-depth, step-by-step, photo tutorial for you (it was 1am and I just wanted them DONE.  I wasn’t worried about taking pictures.  Haha).  But here’s what I did:

• Measure the fabric to create 2 107” panels
• Fold the sides over 1/4”, pin, press, and hem
• Fold the top over 4 1/2” to create a “pocket”, pin and press {well, I did get a couple pictures}
• 
• I cut 4” off the bottom to have the right length. I used the 4” piece to make the tabs.
• After you cut the excess off the bottom, fold the bottom up 1/4”, pin, press, and hem
• Next it’s time to make your tabs.  I took the 4x2 strips of fabric and folded them in half (to make 2x2) then pressed them so they were crisp (I used 7 tabs per panel)
• I then placed the tabs where I wanted them on the 4 1/2” pocket at the top.  I came in 1/2” from the side and placed the first tab.  I placed it close to the top so it would hang properly and the top of the fabric wouldn’t “droop” over.  Make sense?
• I pinned the tabs in place, then hemmed straight across.

I thought about doing another stitch at the bottom of the “pocket” (you can see where I have it pinned), but then decided not to.  It wasn’t necessary.  I didn’t even trim off the extra fabric off the bottom of the pocket. 
So once the tabs were hemmed in place, I hung those bad boys up!!  I found the curtain rod at Walmart for $12.  It was the length I needed and the right price!  I was going to use the same method that Allison from House of Hepworths used and get an electrical conduit to make my rod, but this worked out fine.  It was worth the $12 to not have to do a trip to Home Depot with the baby!
Then I stood back and fell in love.

Here’s what the tabs look like from the back of the curtains all hung up:

And because I’m so obsessed…..one more picture!


Total Cost:  $45 (Fabric – $30, Rod – $12, Gray Thread – $2.50)
So what do you think?  Do they look ok?
Ok, now let me ask your opinion……
What should I do with that window to the left?  Should I do one more panel?  Maybe do a faux roman shade with the chevron fabric?  A valance?  Leave it empty?  I don’t know what to do with it!  HELP!


This might officially be the longest post ever.  But it was well-deserved, I think!
Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great Monday!











PS – My back yard looks like this right now:

Yup, we’re building a deck!  More on that later this week!

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M: DIY Showoff Project Parade, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Today’s Creative Blog, Making Monday Marvelous

T: Get Your Craft On, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Homework

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S:  I Heart Naptime, Be Different, Act Normal, A Little Lovely,

Su:  Under The Table & Dreaming, Remodelaholic