Confession...{& how to make a valance}

I have lived in my house for over a year & a half. Only ONE window has curtains/valance. {GASP!!!} They are just never that high on my list, but they should be.

When we moved here...I bought new bedding for the kiddos room. It came in a set with a bed skirt. Well, we don't need a bed skirt with the boys having bunk beds. For the last year & a half I have had every intention of turning their bed skirts into a valance, but I never found the time or the means.

Yesterday we cleaned & organized their room & I rediscovered their bed skirts. I decided to tackle that project. I am going to attempt to show {& tell} you how I made them, but keep in mind this is my 3rd sewing project. I am a novice, but this worked for me!

I measured my windows. They were both 44 inches wide. I then wanted to give myself some room to let it bunch so I multiplied 44 by 1.5. That came to 66 inches. I added a few extra inches just to be safe, I didn't want my valance too bunchy. I have read other places where you double or triple your window width according to what you want.

For the height...measure your window height. Mine was 42 inches. I divided that by 3. So...my height for the curtain ended up being 14 inches.

Because I was using a bed skirt...I had to sew 2 parts of the bed skirt together that were 14 inches. If I had just one piece of fabric...it will need 28 inches x 66 inches.

I pinned the right sides of the two pieces together where I unpicked the stitches from the bed skirt. {The only unfinished sides.} This is an extra step if you have one whole piece of fabric.



Here is my "whole" piece of fabric.



Pin right sides together & sew leaving a 1/2 inch seam allowance. {You want your fabric to form a tube.} Turn right sides out. {This is the top!}



Iron the seam to form a crease. Then sew 3 inches down from the crease. This is for your header.

Sew another 3 inches down from the header seam. This is where your rod goes in. If you have a thick or thin rod...you many need to change the measurement.



Slide your rod into the rod hole & there you have it!!!!




The most time consuming part was picking the seams. I think I spent a few hours unpicking the seams.

With hubby gone, I decided to be self-reliant & use the drill. Wahoo! There is something about power tools & a finished project to make you feel good!

Now I am on the lookout for fabric to make some fun curtains for my kitchen. I also wanted to show you these really cute signs that I also rediscovered when we were organizing. My brother in law sent Kaden his sign while he was on a mission to Germany. Then, my mother in law made one for Preston {his nickname is P bo}. I love these signs. The boys asked to put them right over their beds...so we did. I love the 3M hanging strips. They work so well!!!