Heavy velvet curtains for the living room, frivolous chintz kitchen curtains, funny curtains for the nursery – all this, if you wish, can be sewn with your own hands, since the assortment of fabrics and accessories in the stores is quite large. But before you get down to work, you need to correctly calculate the amount of material.
Choose a model
In the catalogs of household goods, you can find a variety of curtain models. Straight, with frills, folds, with and without a lambrequin, with puffs, tucks – you can’t list everything. If you wish, you yourself can come up with an interesting style. The type of fabric and its quantity depend on what kind of curtains you decide to sew. It is important to consider both the size of the room and the design of the windows. Dark heavy curtains can visually reduce the window, light and light ones – on the contrary. You can try matching curtains on your computer. This can be done using the most popular graphics editors – for example, Adobe Photoshop. Take a picture of the window, transfer the picture to your computer, and find different models of curtains in the catalogs. Try different options and choose the best one. At the same time, you can pick up the cornice.
This modeling allows you to decide what kind of fabric you need, so you spend a minimum of time in the store.
We take measurements
Sewing always starts with taking measurements. It makes no sense to deviate from this rule when making curtains. You need to measure: – the length of the cornice; – the length of the curtains, taking into account the method of processing the top and bottom; – the length of the lambrequin. It is best to measure with a regular tape measure or tailor’s meter. A centimeter tape is not very comfortable, since it is soft, but in extreme cases it will do too.
Folds, gathers, tucks
Absolutely straight curtains without any folds and assemblies are quite rare in apartments. They look good only if you choose a very dense fabric with a luxurious large pattern. The calculation in this case is extremely simple. Measure the length of the curtain rod, look at the width of the cut and estimate how many times the first measurement is larger than the second. In this case, 2 or 3 lengths of the product are taken, plus a few centimeters for processing the top and bottom. There will be no side cuts, since the edge is usually not cut when sewing curtains. For curtains with simple assemblies, measure the length of the curtain rod and multiply it by 1,5-2. This will be the total width of the curtains. Divide this measurement by the cutting width. If the whole number does not work, round up. It is better if the gathers are a little lush than intended, especially if you are sewing curtains from cheap thin fabric. Multiply the length of the curtain by the resulting coefficient. To make curtains with longitudinal folds, estimate how many folds there will be and their width. Multiply the width of the fold by 3 and then by the number of folds. Divide the result by the cut width, and then make the same calculation as for curtains with assemblies. If you are sewing a lambrequin with one opposite fold, you need to determine the width of this fold, double it and add the result to the length of the cornice.
The calculation for a lambrequin with simple assemblies is done in the same way.
Choose fabric for curtains
Curtains with puffs
Puffs add volume to the curtains. They look especially good on dense, monochromatic curtain fabrics. In this case, it is especially important to correctly calculate the amount of fabric. When making puffs, the fabric shrinks, as it were, both in length and in width. Usually the “assembly factor” is 1, 5. It is by this number that you need to multiply the length of the product and the length of the cornice. This is sufficient for braided puffs with a distance between the lines of 5–6 cm. If you want to make smaller cells (for example, from a light fabric), it is better to multiply the dimensions by 2.
Curtains with ruffles
There are several options for such curtains. They can be with one frill – at the bottom. In this case, you need to make two calculations – for the main canvas and for the frill. For the main canvas, reduce the length of the product by the width of the frills, and then calculate the amount of material depending on the length of the cut and the width of the cornice. You can make a curtain with two frills, top and bottom. In this case, the amount of fabric for the frill is doubled, and the calculation for the main fabric will be the same, since the upper frill is not sewn to the main fabric, like the lower one, but is superimposed on top. The slices are aligned. Please note that such decorative details are made very lush, so sometimes the width needs to be increased not by 1,5 times, but by 2, or even 3 (for curtains made of tulle, organza, etc.).
Asymmetric curtains
Such curtains will cost quite cheaply if the details are rationally arranged on the fabric. In this case, before calculating the amount of fabric, it is better to make a template from graph paper. You can also limit yourself to a smaller model. It is important to respect the proportions and direction of the threads. Draw a strip, observing the ratio of the length to the width of the intended cut. Contour the asymmetrical shade. Determine its width and maximum length. See if you can place some more details on the strip with these proportions. If their outlines protrude, find the farthest point and draw perpendiculars from it to the long sides. See how much you need to increase the cut compared to the maximum length of the curtain. Accordingly, for asymmetric curtains with gathers, folds or puffs, the calculated amount of fabric must be increased as described in the previous cases.