Hidden Tab Top Curtains

TAB-TOP CURTAIN TUTORIAL CRAFTER-BY-NIGHT

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: How to construct a lined curtain panel that can hang using a plain curtain rod pocket or hidden tabs. MATERIALS:

two large pieces of cloth coordinating/matching thread big quilting pins heavy-duty machine sewing needles walking foot may be helpful

CLOTH: The cloth for the curtain can be sheets, shower curtains and/or other wide pieces of cloth. For my panel, I’m using a 72” x 72” shower curtain and a white king-size sheet for the lining. For this project, I’d recommend pieces of cloth that are 22” to 30” longer than the length of the curtain panel you want. At the very least you must have 15” – 17” extra length to create the required hems. To make hidden tabs, you need an additional piece of fabric at least 7” long and several feet wide. I typically make the tabs from either the front or lining to match perfectly, but you can really use any coordinating fabric you want. FYI, below are standard Flat Sheet (width x length) sizes: Twin Sheet 66" x 96" 168 x 244 cm Full Sheet 81" x 96" 206 x 244 cm Queen Sheet 91" x 102" 231 x 259 cm King Sheet 108" x 102" 274 x 259 cm California/Western King Sheet 102" x 110" 259 x 279 cm


1. PREPARATION: Wash everything on whatever water-heat setting you will be washing them in the future on to make sure everything gets properly pre-shrunk. Then iron both pieces with starch to make it easier to work with. Starch will also make your curtains seem to have more substance when hanging. 2. CLEAN-UP: Because I'm using a shower curtain, there are holes in the top for the rings. As the top edge will be folded over anyway to make a rod pocket, the holes will disappear and so I’m leaving the top edge alone. However, if you have something like holes on one edge, be sure to cut this off if you need to so you have a clean edge to work with. 3. MEASURING: Measure how long you want your curtains - from rod to floor, from rod to under the window, whatever. Add 15" to this measurement for short curtains (6" for the bottom hem, 9" for the top) or 17" for long curtains (8" for the bottom hem). I add a thick bottom hem to curtains to add weight to the bottom of the curtains. This added hem weight makes the curtains hang better. If you’re looking to make “floaty” curtains, (1) use a lightweight fabric, (2) then leave off the lining and (3) make the hem as small as you can – maybe and inch or so.


4. LINING: If you are lining your curtain. Starting at the top left corner, line up your front and back with right sides facing each other. You will probably have extra fabric on one side and the bottom. When sewing, use a loose-ish straight stitch. Starting at the top left corner, sew down the left side toward the bottom of your shorter piece of fabric. Go back to the top left corner and sew the edges together across the top to the end of the shorter piece of fabric. If you’re using fabric with sewn edges as I am, your seam should run right down the middle between the sewn seam and the edge, giving about a half-inch seam. Next, spread out your two pieces flat on a flat surface with the lining up - the floor, bed or wherever’s available. Smooth your fabric down, working from the sewn edges down toward to the un-sewn side. Once you have it as flat as you can make it, baste or pin the remaining edges together (side first, then bottom). Cut off the spare fabric on the side and bottom neatly. Sew the RIGHT SIDE ONLY down, beginning at the top and sewing toward the bottom. 5. FINISH THE LINING: Turn your curtain right side out now that three sides are sewn down. Poke out the top corners as far as possible. Now IRON the sides down to get the inside-out seams flat (a flat, iron seam is shown to the right). When you’re done, you’ll have a double-layered length of fabric, sewn along the top and two sides, to turn into a curtain panel.


6. CURTAIN ROD POCKET: Go back to the top and fold over the fabric as indicated in the diagram. It works better if first you pin down a 4” fold, then go back and fold over a 5” fold again, removing and re-pinning as you go. You can do both at once, but it won’t be as accurate. Iron the top and pinned edges really well. DO NOT SEW DOWN YET.

6. HEMMING: Spread out your fabric again and measure from the new top edge down to your desired curtain length. Measure and mark along entire width. Now measure and mark another line - either an additional 6” of length for a short curtain or 8” for a long (floor-length) curtain. Once marked, cut your double layer of fabric neatly across this longest length. If you want, you can zig-zag this raw edge to finish it. Or not – I’ve never had mine ravel once hemmed. Fold over half the extra length - 3” or 4” – (toward the lining, of course) and then fold over again. This is your hem. Pin this down. Iron down the folded-down edge and the pinned edge really well. Then sew it down along the edge where the foldover meets the lining fabric. Use a half-inch seam width. You have a hem! Almost done!


7. PLANNING THE HIDDEN TABS: Now for some math!

1. Each hidden tab takes a 7" x 6.5" piece of fabric. 2. Each tab is 3" x 5" when finished. 3. The tabs will be placed 6" apart + 1" on either end.

My 72" piece of fabric will require approximately 8 tabs: 72" wide - 1” either side = 70”. 70” divided by 9" (3" tab + 6" space) = 7.8 approx 8 tabs

Make the measurements for your piece and then multiply the number of tabs x 7" = a 56" x 6.5" piece of fabric.


8. MAKING THE HIDDEN TABS: Cut a strip (or strips) of fabric that is (are) 6.5” wide. Then cut this strip (these strips) into pieces 7” long. Make however many your calculations showed you.

Fold these strips in half so that you have 3.5” x 6.5” pieces of fabric. Sew the strips closed along the 6.5” long edge with a half-inch seam.


Turn the fabric inside out and press the seam and folds flat. Then fold inward from each end .75” and press flat.

Once you’ve made the required folds and pressed the required edges, you should end up with a rectangle that’s 3” wide and 5” long.


9. ATTACHING THE HIDDEN TABS: In this last step you will simultaneously make a curtain rod pocket and hidden tabs by sewing the hidden tabs to the curtain itself. First, you will need to pin the tabs to the curtain. The tabs will begin one inch (1”) from either end, so you can place these first. Starting with the far end of tab 1, measure 6” from the end of the hidden tab. Place and pin down your next tab. Keep doing this until the end of the fabric width. I ironed it all down as I was going to make sure that everything was straight and even. Your measurements may not work out to exactly 6” between each tab. You may have to adjust to 5.5” or 5.25” between tabs or something – just make it roughly equivalent or your curtain won’t hang evenly. This picture shows measuring and pinning the hidden tabs to the top edge of the fabric. next page…


10. SEWING THE TABS: The last step is simultaneously sewing the tabs to the curtain and sewing the curtain rod pocket. The diagram (below) shows the sewing lines: Black lines = curtain and 5” top edge curtain foldover Blue lines = tabs, folded and ironed down Red lines = raw edges of tabs, facing the curtain Green lines = sewing lines across top and bottom of tabs Beginning from Point A, sew to Point B (green line) using a .5” (half-inch) seam. As the diagram indicates, this seam will simultaneously finish the raw edge of the tabs and sew down the top edge of the tabs. DO NOT CUT CORNERS AND SEW FROM B TO D OR A TO C. Next, sew from Point C to Point D using a .5” seam. This will finish the other raw edge of the tab, sew down the bottom edge of the tabs and sew down the bottom of the curtain rod pocket.


This picture shows sewing the top edge of the tab to the top of the curtain seam. The green fabric is the curtain rod pocket, which can be used as an alternate hanging method to the hidden tabs.

This picture shows the layering of the tabs and the bottom fold of the curtain rod pocket before being sewn. The top seam has been sewn.


THE CURTAIN IS DONE! THIS IS THE CURTAIN I SEWED WRITING THIS TUTORIAL

Hidden Tab Top Curtains

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