Make Striped Curtains From A Bedsheet And An Old Bedskirt

These beautiful striped curtains were my inspiration for this project- the moment I saw them I knew they would look lovely in or living room.  To buy window treatments like this was way out of my budget, so I used one sheet and some other things I had around the house to get the same look.

I first purchased a Mainstays flat bed sheet in off-white from Wal-Mart. The sheet was less than $10.00  and was almost the perfect size. I also bought 4 rolls of satin (no wire) ribbon from the Dollar Tree. I went home and pulled out an old king-sized gold bed-skirt that I was keeping for no-apparent reason. The comforter that it matched was long gone, and I knew I wouldn’t be using it as a bed-skirt again. It was just the right shade to match my off-white bed sheet  for my striped curtains.

I first washed and ironed the sheet to get out the wrinkles from being packaged.  This was a tedious, but necessary step.  I cut the sheet down the middle and hemmed the unfinished side (that I had just cut).  The next step in this project was to measure the length that I wanted the curtains to be.  I held the curtains up where the rod to hang them would be and made a line on the sheet with chalk where I wanted to trim.  I wanted them to just touch the floor and not get bunched up at the bottom.  Next I cut and hemmed the bottom.

To create the stripes I got out my old bed skirt and cut the skirting off from the fabric that goes under the mattress.  I cut all the pieces the same length and hemmed up the unfinished edges.   I then laid the off white sheets on the floor and measured out the spacing between the stripes.  I pinned each gold stripe into place and then used iron on hem tape to attach.  I think because of the thickness of the fabric the tape did not hold perfectly so I did sew the stripes on as well.  Any curtains in our house get used as hide-and go seek spots so I wanted them to be sturdy!  The stripes were looking great, but needed a little something.  Because I was re-using a bed skirt my lines were not perfect (or maybe because my sewing skills are still lacking), so I sewed a piece of ribbon on top of each stripe.  This worked perfectly to hide any imperfections, and added a special touch!  Makes them just a little fancy, I think!

I hung them using some curtain clips that I already had ( I believe they were from Target) and a inexpensive curtain rod that I found at the Dollar General for $8.00.  Now remember that these do not have a backing on them so from the outside they just look off white, but from the inside have a beautiful striped pattern.  They keep the light out wonderfully, and are so pretty when the sun hits them, it’s like they are glowing!

I would say this is one of my favorite projects to date.  Not so much to do, because it was time-consuming, but the end result was so worth it!  They have the exact look that I wanted for our living room.  I enjoy looking at them every day!  They are dramatic, yet sophisticated.   No one ever guesses that I made them, let alone from a sheet and a bed skirt.  They are by no means technically perfect, but they are perfect to me.  It is so rewarding for me when I can reuse something that I have and create something new exactly what I wanted for far less money!