DIY Curtains From Store Panels

I looked all over for curtains that I liked. We are on a budget, so my choices were limited. I looked at every fabric store in town, I looked online...I could not find anything I liked. I wanted long curtains because we have high ceilings, and long curtains and a small budget don't really work well together. Also, because we are renters, we didn't paint the walls. Which means our color scheme is limited, and I couldn't find the patterns that I liked. After hearing Van ask for curtains for literally 3 months, I decided to just make something to get us by. We went to Walmart and bought 3 panels. Two ivory panels and one green panel. The goal: DIY Color blocked curtains. Here is how I made them.

I took my two ivory panels and set them aside, then took my green panel and folded it in half "hamburger style". Anyone remember that from Elementary School? After I folded it, I cut along the line to make it 2 pieces. 

  

Next, you take both pieces and lay them on a flat surface, the front/outside of the curtain face down. 

Bentley thought this was a nice little place to lay down.

Your next step is to pin the two pieces together:

Make sure you line them up and pin straight. Also, make sure you have the outside layer facing down on both sides. Don't be like me and sew half of the panel together before you realize you did it wrong. I am as newbie as it gets at sewing and this has been a major trial and error process for me. Note that I also did not let out the hems on the original curtains. For me it didn't matter, to others it might. I bought back tab panels so that all sides had finished ends.

...Just keep pinning, pinning, pinning....

Moral support from Nova, who looks like hes falling asleep from boredom. 

When you are finished pinning, it should look a little something like this:

Next, SEWING!

One lesson I have learned is to go S L O W.

Do your best to keep your line straight.

When you are finished sewing the 2 pieces together, it should look a little something like this:

Here is the finished product hanging in our living room. Because of the layout of our living room, the couch has to be directly in front of them so you can't see the color blocking. But now Van has curtains, and they are long enough for my liking. They will do for now! 

Give it a try! It wasn't difficult and took me a total of 30 minutes. The cost of all of the panels at Walmart was only $45!! Can't beat that.