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Archive for the ‘Make it Yourself Decor Ideas’ Category

Easy DIY Cabinet Transformation

Posted in About Renovations, Decor Tips, Decorating Dilemmas, Make it Yourself Decor Ideas, Uncategorized, tagged , , on May 10, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

An affordable answer for the kitchen cabinet refresh/replace dilemma

Kitchen cabinets are crazy expensive but can become tired and dated looking after only a few years. You can totally replace them, if you have the budget for it, but you don’t have to. If the layout works for you and the cabinets are still in good shape, you can paint them to refresh your look. The problem with painting them is that you really should strip the old finish, sand them down, which is hard work and prime with a high adhesion primer. You need a top quality paint and even then the paint will only look good for a few years. Regular paint scratches and marks easily.

I have found a really interesting product, Rust-Oleum Transformations. I haven’t used it yet, but it looks like a really good product that is DIY  friendly. Check out the link below to see all about the product!

http://rustoleumtransformations.com/ 

There are a number of ‘transformation kits’. There is one to refinish your cabinets with paint colour and one for stain colours. There is a transformation kit for counter tops as well. They even offer a kit for wood floors, tiles and furniture!

If you are willing to put in the work, you could refinish the cabinets, counters, backs plash and floor, all with a Rust-Oleum kit!

As I said in the beginning, I have not used these products yet but they looked so interesting that I thought that I should pass on my DIY find. I will be trying it out for myself in the near future, I think.

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Easy Christmas Tree Craft

Posted in Christmas Ideas and Crafts, Make it Yourself Decor Ideas, Misc, tagged , , , on December 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Easy Christmas tree to make

Easy Christmas tree to make

To me, Christmas crafts are one of the best things about this time of year. Get a bunch of kids together and have a Christmas tree making party. This little Christmas tree always comes out looking good and it costs almost nothing. It can be made in the traditional green or it could be white or pink or whatever suits your fancy.

If you want to make a more upscale version, you can buy a styrofoam cone and some thin green craft felt or fabric and cut it out into circles instead of squares and attach it to the cone with the sewing pins that have different coloured beads for heads or use a glue gun (I always manage burn my fingers and generally make messes with hot glue)

1. Materials needed

Materials needed

Materials

  • 1 small package of Dollar Store tissue paper
  • 1 sheet of construction paper, bristol board or cardstock
  • white glue
  • unsharpened pencil or pencil with unused eraser
  • ruler
  • pen
  • sissors
  • a bit of red and green coloured foil (I used foil Christmas wrap)

Choose a sheet of construction paper or some other heavy paper that is the same colour as the tissue paper that you have chosen. The size of the paper will dictate the size of the finished tree. The one shown was made from a 9×12 in sheet of construction paper from a pad of mixed colours. For a smaller tree just cut it off shorter, for a taller tree use a bigger sheet. Bristol board cut to an appropriate size would work best for a larger tree.

Make a cone

mark tissue for cutting

mark tissue for cutting

To make the cone, you take a sheet of construction paper from a standard pad and curl it into a cone. Tape the loose edge down and then cut off the bottom so that it stands up straight. (This is the hardest part of the whole project)

Next, take your package of tissue paper and unfold it so that it is about 6 tissues thick. With your pen, mark off a strip 4″ wide. Mark off three more strips beside the first one and then score across these strips every 4″ until you have a bunch of 4″ squares. Cut off a strip and cut the strip into squares. Repeat.

wrap the square over the pencil end

wrap the square over the pencil end

Now the fun begins. Take a small dish or a piece of plastic and squirt a small puddle of white glue on/in it.  Then take one of those squares and wrap it over the blunt end of the pencil, dip it lightly in the glue and press on the top of the cone. Place another folded square close to the first one. Go around the top, and then start moving down the cone, constantly filling in the gaps. Every so often wipe off the pencil as it starts to get sticky.

9. Work your way down the cone

Work your way to the bottom all at once or a bit at a time, like I did. (That gives the glue a chance to dry too)

Check it over carefully and fill in any gaps with a folded square.

Put two or three folded squares at the top to finish it nicely

You can enjoy your tree with or without decorations as shown below.

Finished tree (not decorated)

Finished tree (not decorated)

Easy Christmas tree to make

Easy Christmas tree to make

To decorate the tree, crumple up small bits of coloured foil or even coloured tissue paper and glue them randomly around the tree. For a more polished effect, use small coloured beads or little coloured baby’s buttons or anything that is the right size for your tree.

You could even make 3 in graduated sizes to make a pretty grouping.

Now you have a beautiful Christmas tree that you can use year after year.

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Gorgeous Christmas Tree

Posted in Decor Tips, Make it Yourself Decor Ideas, Uncategorized, tagged on December 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Blue and silver tree trimmings and coordinating gift wrappings

Blue and silver tree trimmings and coordinating gift wrappings

A tip to help you get that decorator look to your Christmas tree. Add something unexpected. Look around your collections of this and that for something that would add interest to your tree.

I like to stuff flowers in my trees. One year it was filled with artificial white poinsettias. Another year I filled it with red ones. One year I took tiny puffs of pillow stuffing and put it on the tips of many of the branches so that it looked like snow had just fallen. This year I used sprigs of glittery white berries with leaves and some baby’s breath. I also inserted large silver snowflakes inside the larger ‘holes’ in the branches. I also curled curling ribbon and draped it in long curls randomly down the tree. It all adds up to one very pretty and rather elegant Christmas tree this year.

Blue and silver ornaments augmented with white flowers

Blue and silver ornaments augmented with white flowers

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Quick & Easy Christmas Tree Skirt

Posted in Decor Tips, Decorating Dilemmas, Make it Yourself Decor Ideas, Misc, tagged , on November 22, 2012 | 1 Comment »

I did a whole new colour scheme for my Christmas decorations this year. After endlessly changing up red, gold, white, crystal and a touch of pink, into various themes and combinations, I went out and bought a tree full of blue and silver decorations for next to nothing at my favourite discount store, XS Cargo. Once the tree was up, I realized that the gold chunk of fabric that I have always wrapped around the base, since I started having an artificial tree, would not do at all. After going out specifically to get a hunk of suitable fabric, I got home and realized that I had forgotten to do that in the midst of all the other things that I decided to do once I was out.

So, rather than go back out, I got to thinking “What can I use?” and realized that I had a great source of nice fabrics, right in the dining room. I rooted around in my collection of tablecloths, (most of which, I never use) and found the perfect silver blue tablecloth and tossed it around the base of the tree. Voila, one very elegant and free tree skirt.

I think it looks pretty good!

For another low cost DIY Christmas decoration see Christmas Mantle Decoration under the category “Make it Yourself Decor Ideas”

http://asyoulikeitdesign.ca/2009/12/16/christmas-mantle-decoration/

 

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New kind of Wall covering!

Posted in Comments/Opinions, Decor Tips, Make it Yourself Decor Ideas, Shopping with Leslie, tagged , , , on January 5, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Stop the presses! I just found a new kind of wallpaper that doesn’t use glue, it is a peel and stick that comes off as easy as pie without harming the paint. There is no glue, no mess and no damage to the wall. Every order is custom sized to fit your wall, so it is sure to fit properly. It comes in strips just like wallpaper and you hang it the same way, making sure it is perpendicular and the air bubbles are worked out. You still have to match the edges of the strips, but that is the end of the similarity. Removing it is a breeze too, just peel it off. There is no backing to stay firmly adhered to the wall and no glue to rip chunks of paint off, leaving you with a ghastly mess to fill and sand, or worse.

The company is Inkshuffle. You choose your wall covering design and order it online. You can also design your own wallpaper.  Here is the link for you. http://www.inkshuffle.com

There are tons of designs to choose from and some really interesting Murals — not like those ‘grandma murals’ either. There are some fabulous graphics too. These won’t appeal to everyone, but the pictures of the murals in real settings that scroll continuously on the home page, will give you a much better idea of what they will look like in real life. This is such an improvement over having to picture it in your mind’s eye while staring at rolls of wallpaper in a store.

Needless to say, you would only do one wall, or they would be overwhelming but you can really make a statement!

You can even have your own photo or design made up into a design to fit your specific wall. The price is quite reasonable too.

They also do Canvas Wraps and Posters.

So go and have a look for yourself. You can even chat online with a staff member.

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Blinds for Your Porch

Posted in Curb Appeal and Gardens, Decor Tips, Drapery Panel Problems, Make it Yourself Decor Ideas, tagged , on July 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Easy DIY Blinds

for Your

Front Porch

These roll up blinds make your south or west facing porch a lot more comfortable to sit on on hot summer afternoons. They add shade to the front wall of your house too, which helps reduce the heat inside your home and your (scary) air conditioning electric bill!!

Here is what you need:

  1. enough polyester fabric or outdoor decor fabric to make your blinds (cotton will fade and rot) (yarn died is better than printed on one side only)
  2. 1/2″ thick dowel for the top and bottom pockets
  3. two eye hooks
  4. 4 m length of 1″ to 1-1/2″w twill tape for the top ties
  5. 4 m length of 1/2″ twill tape for the bottom ties
  6. two cup hooks to put in the top  dowel to hook the blind to the eye hooks in the upper framing of the porch.

It is pretty simple to make these blinds, cut the fabric to fit the space. Hem the side seams. Make a pocket top and bottom (with ties sewn in). Slip a 1/2″ dowel in each pocket. Add 2 cup hooks to the top dowel. Screw two eye hooks in the top of the porch frame to correspond with the cup hooks and hang. Roll the blind by hand and tie it to whatever height you want with the twill tape ties. When you lower it, tie the bottom of it to the porch railing with the twill ties sewn into the bottom seam, so that it does not blow all over the place in a breeze. Note: do not leave them down in a strong wind as you could ruin them. They are fine otherwise and will last for many years, especially if you have used polyester fabric which will not rot or fade and does not rip easily either.

Here are some more detailed instructions for the less confident DIYer!

To establish how much fabric, first decide how long you want them. The ones in the picture just go to just over the top railing. You could have them full length if you wish. Measure from the top to where you want them to end and add 13 cm (5″) — which is 6.5 cm (2-1/2 “) each to the top and bottom to make the pockets to hold the dowels.

Width. — This depends on your porch and how far apart the posts are. You do not want the blinds to be any wider than 6′ because that is the widest the dowels come in and also, the wider they are, they become really awkward to handle. Also, most fabric is 54″ wide, although you can find extra wide fabric. If your blinds are going to be any wider than 50″, you will have to buy two lengths of fabric for the blind and have  french seams in the blind (seams that are finished on both sides)  or hunt for extra wide drapery fabric. The fabric shown in the picture was double wide drapery fabric and so there was no problem with the width.Measure how wide it needs to be and then add 8 cm (3 “), that is 4cm or 1-1/2 inches for each side seam.

Construction:

Lay out the fabric on the floor and cut it to the desired length. Then measure how wide it needs to be and add the extra amount for the seam. Cut it out. Sew up the side seams with a full double fold over so it won’t fray in the wind. (Fold it 3/4″ and then fold it again) Press the seam in place before sewing, then sew. Now the sides are made.  Measure and be sure that the width is right before your final sewing of the second side seam.

Top pocket:

Fold down the top edge   .6cm (1/2″) press, then fold 3.7cm (1-1/2″) press. The next step is optional. Measure in along the second fold (which will be the top edge of your blind) about 30cm (1 ft) and make a small button hole on the fold. This is to make a place to screw in the eye hook to be screwed into the dowel which will be placed in this pocket for your top support. . Another way would be to place a small grommet  there to make a hole for the eye hook. You can screw the eye hook right through the fabric if you don’t want to struggle with making a hole in the pocket, but you are risking creating a ‘pull’ in the fabric, if the screw catches a thread awkwardly.

After making the holes, fold the pocket down. Cut 2 m of the wide twill tape and fold in half. Place the fold inside the seam if the upper pocket, a little bit farther in than the hole for the hook is. Do this at either end. Stitch the fold down. Now you have the upper dowel pocket and the ties for the blind made,

To make the bottom dowel pocket, you do it exactly the same as the top pocket, minus the holes for hooks. The other difference is that you substitute the narrow twill tape for the wide twill tape to make the bottom ties.

Now hang your blind.

Roll it up by hand and tie it in place with the wide twill tape (flip one of the two parts of each tie over the top of the blind) Tuck the bottom ties in while you are rolling. You can let it part way down and retie the wide ties if there is no wind or let it all the way down for shade or privacy.

Enjoy

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Solving Ready Made Drapery Panels Problems

Posted in Decor Tips, Decorating Dilemmas, Drapery Panel Problems, Make it Yourself Decor Ideas, tagged on March 29, 2010 | 9 Comments »

So you found some curtain panels that you like and put them up and you are NOT happy with them. They really look amateurish, sloppy, or just not right, and you don’t know what to do to fix them. Here are some of the reasons that they don’t look/hang properly and some things that you can do to make them look more professional.

1. Problem: Multiple Panels that Hang Separately. You want curtains that you can close and open so you had to buy four or even six panels to cover the window when they are closed. Now you have to pull the centre panels across, then pull the next panel across on each side, or you have the panels pinned together with safety pins at the top! It is a pain and you often end up with  gaps between the panels that require endless adjustment. It just looks bad and you know it!

Fix: Sew the panels that form each side of the window together so that each side of the window has a single panel, not two or three separated ones. To do this properly, you have to unstitch the side seam and pick back both the hem and the header about 6″ so that you can sew the two side seams together, then restitch the hem and the header over the new seam.

A less difficult but also less professional fix is to not unpick anything, just lay the two edges together, facing each other and carefully hand baste them to each other right along the edge by hand, as invisibly as possible. It is not as good a fix as above but will at least keep the two panels together and if you sew carefully, it will not show. You still have the two side hem stitching lines showing on the front side of course, but there is nothing you can do about that.

2. Problem: The Curtains Look Sloppy on the Rod. They don’t hang properly.

Fix: This depends on the kind of curtain and the diameter of the rod. Both things can come into play here. We will deal with them one at a time.

Rod Pocket Panels.

The pocket and the rod must match.

Rod pocket panels come with different size pockets. Some have narrow pockets for 1/2″ rods and some come with as much as 3″ wide pockets for wide flat rods or thick round rods. For the curtain to gather crisply, the pocket must fit snugly on the rod. If the pocket is too loose the curtains don’t gather well, they are bunchy and hang haphazardly.

Fix: If the pocket is too wide for the rod, sew a new bottom seam line across the pocket in the correct place so that the rod slides snugly into the pocket. It should not be loose at all. You should not remove the old seam line as it forms the bottom part of the hem for the header.

Fix #2: Buy a rod that is the correct size and style for your new curtains.

Back Tab Panels

Problem: Same as rod pockets. They hang haphazardly and unevenly and with this type even irregularly. In this case the back tab, which is up to 3″ deep is too big for the rod. It doesn’t hold the front of the panel snugly to the rod and the curtain sags in odd directions. I really don’t like back tab panels as they are really difficult to get to hang nicely.

Back tab panels actually do not hang well on round rods. They tend to slip around it, each tab finding the place it wants to be, which is not the same as the one beside it. They hang much better on wide, flat rods, that keep them hanging straight up and down and not drooping forward like they will do on a round rod. The problem with this is that the wide, flat rods are not decorative and not meant to show.

F1x: Each tab is tacked to the front of the panel at the top and the bottom of the tab. Put an extra tack farther up from the bottom with a sewing machine or by hand, to make the tab smaller and fit more snugly on your particular rod. They still tend to tip forward at the top, but at least they do it evenly.

Fix #2: Replace your rod with one that is thicker.

Fix #3: Ignore or remove the tabs and insert pin hooks and hang them from curtain rings.  This works well.

Problem: 84″ Long Curtains are Too Short, but 96″l are Too Long.

Most ready mades come in various lengths. Those lengths are based on a standard 8′ ceiling (96″) or the height of the average window frame a long time ago (84″). The problem is that most curtain rods, to be stylish, end up being placed about 90″ from the floor these days, between the window frame and the ceiling. Another problem is that, in newer houses, windows are placed higher on the wall than they used to be with only about 6″-8″ clearance from the ceiling. 84″ doesn’t work well for most people anymore.

Fix: Take out the hem and let it all the way down. Either hem it with a tiny rolled hem, or  add wide seam tape/extra wide bias tape, to the bottom, then turn the added tape/fabric up and stitch by hand preferably or with a machine, to replace the back side of the hem. Actually, a strip of any fabric that coordinates with your curtains  reasonable well, will do. The original fabric is on the front side and the added fabric is on the back side this way.

Fix #2:  Add a contrasting or decorative band to the bottom of your drapes. A contrasting band is a stylish look right now too! Unpick the hem and about 6″ of the side seam, and simply sew a band of fabric that is the appropriate width to the bottom. Resew the side seam then hem it. Don’t forget to have enough fabric for a 4″ deep hem. The deeper the hem, the more professional it looks and the better it hangs.

Fix#3:  Buy 96″ long panels (if you can find them) and shorten them to just barely brush the floor.

Fix #4:  Buy some large rings with clips  and put them on your decorative rod. Attach the panels to the clips, which will lower a pinch pleat or back tab panel an inch or even two,  and some rod pocket panels even more. This may just be the answer for your particular situation. Careful with those clips on delicate fabrics though – the clip could snag and put pulls in the fabric.

  • NOTE: Ready made curtain panels can be a very economical way to dress your windows, but shop carefully, some of those ready made panels are very expensive and when you add it all up, you could have had custom draperies for the same price or less, if you used a low cost fabric.  The cost of draperies is not in the making of them, it is in the fabric, which can be extremely expensive. It is the same for ready made curtain panels and frequently they still need to be altered to look good!

Also see: “Easy Drapery Project”,  ”Turn Rod Pocket Panels into Real Pinch Pleats”,  ”More About Converting Rod Pocket Panels”

This link was sent by a reader – see ‘Response’ below

http://curtainchannel.com/readymade-curtains.html

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More About Converting Rod Pocket Panels

Posted in Decor Tips, Decorating Dilemmas, Drapery Panel Problems, Make it Yourself Decor Ideas, tagged , , , , on March 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »


Easy Sew Pleats and Gathers

Rod Pocket Panels can be converted to pleats or gathers another way. This one is for those of you with access to a sewing machine and really basic sewing skills.

At the Fabric Store, ask for pleating tape or shirring (gathering) tape. Then have them show you the appropriate hooks to go with the tape. They will advise you as to how many you should need.

Pleating tape is a heavy tape with pockets for hooks in it, that you simply stitch across the top, back side of your panel and insert the 4 prong hooks that create the pleats. The only downside to this tape is that is rather heavy and not really suitable for sheers and some semi sheers.

  • NOTE: This is really easy but there are two mistake that you can make. The pockets for the hook prongs are clearly marked. The pockets are closed at the top and open at the bottom to slide in the hooks. It is really easy to sew the tape down with the pocket opening facing the wrong way. The closed part of the pocket goes at the top of the curtain and the open end of the pocket faces the bottom of the curtain.
  • Also, count the pockets across the curtain, 1,2,3,4 (this makes a pleat) skip two (this makes the space between the pleats), repeat,  1,2,3,4 skip two all the way along the tape, and see if it come out evenly and you do not have a half a pleat left over at the end. If it is not working out try skip 1 or skip 3 (make the space between the pleat larger or smaller).

Shirring tape is a heavy tape with strings in it that you pull to gather the curtain to the correct width and fullness. You then have a sort of ‘smocked’ look to the top of your curtains. You insert the hooks in the pockets in the tape and then hang below your rod. This way you have a gathered look but the curtains are hung on rings below the rod rather than over the rod in the traditional manner. This looks really good. The tape comes in a number of widths. The wider the tape, the more gathering strings and the nicer the finished look. Again, the downside is that the wide tape is really heavy and not very suitable for sheer fabrics but works well with any fabric that is opaque and has some body to it. The narrow tape with only 2 gathering strings will work on very lightweight fabrics though, just not really sheer ones because it shows through too much.

Pleating and Shirring tape is an easy way to make inexpensive (or even expensive) flat panels into panels that can be hung on rings below the decorative rods that are so fashionable right now.

Also NOTE: There are different kinds of hooks for different uses. When you are hanging your draperies BELOW the rod you have to buy the kind of hooks with the hook part at the top of the hook not in the middle of the hook. The ones with the hook in the middle of the whole hook are used when you want to cover the track with the pleated part of the curtain such as a traditional I beam rod or traverse rod. These are not decorative rods and are meant to be hidden by the drapery. See Picture

Also see: Easy Drapery Project, & Turn Rod Pocket Panels into Real Pinch Pleats & Solving Ready Made Drapery Panel Problems

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Turn Rod Pocket Panels into Real Pinch Pleats

Posted in Decor Tips, Decorating Dilemmas, Drapery Panel Problems, Make it Yourself Decor Ideas, tagged on March 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Pile on the Pleats

You can turn rod pocket panels into real pinch pleats, rather than fake it as I have described in “Easy Drapery Project“.

You do need a sewing machine and some really basic sewing skills. As long as you are able to do some basic measuring and can sew a short seam with a sewing machine, you can make your own pleated side panels. These instructions are for a simple two fold pleat.

  • NOTE: The panel you use matters too. It must be one with a 4″ to 5″ header. The header is the distance from the lowest stitching line (that forms the pocket) to the very top edge of the panel. If your panel has one of those pockets meant for a very wide or thick rod, this will not work as the pocket is too deep. You will have to pick out the stitching, measure the correct length, cut off the excess and make a new 4″ deep header to pleat.

Pinch pleats should have at least 2:1 fullness. 2:1 fullness is the easiest one to do so this is the one I will describe. For a 48″ wide panel you simply work in 4″ segments. Your return at either end (the flat piece where the first hook goes) is 2″ then just place a pin vertically (up & down) or mark vertically with a washable quilt marker, every 4″ along the top, back side of the panel.

  • You will notice that a lot of ready made panels are actuall 47″ w. Measure the width before you start marking it. If it is less than 48″w make you adjustment in the 2″ return. It could be 1-1/2″ instead for instance.

Starting the pleating process:

Once you have marked the top of the panel into 4″ segments you start making folds to create the pleats and spaces between the pleats.

  1. Join pin (or mark) #1 to pin#2 back sides together – that will form the beginning of a pleat.
  2. Pin at the top and at the lowest seam line.
  3. Skip to pin #3 and join it to pin #4. That will create the flat area between the pleats and make the next pleat.
  4. Continue this way – join pins 5&6, 7&8, 9&10 until you get to the end and have 2″ left over for the return at the other end.

The next part is to finish making the pleat.

  1. Go to your first pleat. Sew where you have pinned, from the top edge, down to the bottom of the header. Do this on the ‘right’ side of the fabric.   Stitch back a few stitches to lock the pleat in place. Do this for each pleat. The beginning of your pleats and flat spaces are now made.
  2. Now go back to the first pleat and completely flatten it out (like a butterfly) so the centre of the fold meets the seam you just made.
  3. Pin the centre of the fold to the seam at the top (up & down) so the pin head sticks out of the top. You don’t have to pin here, but it does make it easier to handle.
  4. Press the two folded outside edges of the pleat with your fingers or an iron.
  5. Pushing the centre in, pull the pressed edges  toward you and pin them together, remove the centre pin. You have made your pleat.
  6. Then stitch across the bottom of the pleat,  from the seam line of the pleat to the outside edge of the fold. Reverse and go back to the beginning to lock it strongly in place.

Your two fold pleat is finished.

  • To recap – stitch vertically, flatten out the pleat, fold the two outside edges of the pleat together, stitch across the bottom of the double fold. That is all there is to it!

Do this with each pleat and you have 2:1 simple  two fold pinch pleats. Your 48″w panel is now 24″ wide – a pair will cover a 36- 40″ wide window or make a set of decorative side panels for any window.

  • Note: If you want more than one panel per side, you must pick out the side hem on two panels and stitch them together to form a single panel. This is a bit more complicated than it sounds because you also have to pick back the header and the hem so that you can join the side seams. You are probably better off just sticking to side panels or buying appropriate width pinch pleats from Sears or another retailer – or better yet make them from scratch.

Another Important Note: You have to use pin hooks with these panels because the traditional two-pronged slip hooks have nowhere to slip because of the fact that the rod pocket is stitched closed. Pin hooks are little single prong hooks that have a pointed end that you pierce through the back part of the fabric to insert. They are available anywhere that sells drapery hardware.

This project is really easy to do for any amateur sewer to do, but is really hard to describe in simple terms. Just take it step by step and it will become clear as you go along!

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Easy Drapery Project For Flat Panels

Posted in Decor Tips, Decorating Dilemmas, Drapery Panel Problems, Make it Yourself Decor Ideas, tagged , on January 27, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Get a pleated look from a flat panel

Hang Rod Pocket (Flat) Panels to Look Like Pinch Pleats

This ‘Decorating on a Dime’ project is dead easy and has an amazing effect. Give your flat panels the illusion of being pleated drapes. I am not crazy about rod pocket curtains/draperies in many cases, but they are cheap to buy and also easy for even a beginner to make.

Ready made, pinch pleated draperies are expensive and hard to find, but you can achieve the look very easily by converting a set of flat, rod pocket panels and no sewing is required either!

The bottom line is that you insert evenly spaced pin hooks in the back side of the pocket and hang the panels from rings like a pinch pleated drape. You then pull out the fabric between the rings into folds that look like pleats. It is easy but below are step by step instructions for those who have never attempted such do-it yourself projects. Instructions for converting rod pockets to grommet panels are at the bottom of this article as well.

All you need is as many pin hook as you have rings, making sure that there is an odd number on each panel. In this case I used 18 pin hooks, 9 per panel. This is a good number for any panel in the 40″-48″wide range.

  • Pin hooks are available anywhere that sells curtain panels. They are the little hooks that have a single pointed pin to push into the fabric. You can use a measuring tape to get the spacing of the hooks and distance from the top, but is not necessary if you use the folding method described below and a regular ruler to mark the place to push in the pin hook.

To Start off this Project:

Lay the top of your curtain panel out flat, face down, on a table or ironing board.

  • I like to work on an ironing board because it is higher and therefore easier to work on than a table. You put the top of the curtain along the ironing board and the rest just hangs down, out of your way and doesn’t slip and slid off like it does on the table.

Inserting the Hook:

  • Measure the length of the hook with a tape measure or ruler. They come in different sizes but these were 1-1/2 ” or 3.5cm.
  • Measure down that distance from the top of the panel, mark it with a pin or marking pencil, and insert the point of the hook at this mark between the two layers of fabric .
  • Then push the pin hook all the way up inside the pocket until the point is at the top, but not through it.
  • Adjust the pin until it is perpendicular, it should stay straight up and down, no problem, once it is hung.
    • On these particular panels, the seam that created the top of the pocket was a little over 1-1/2″ down so I could just push the hook in directly above the seam and avoided measuring down from the top, which was great!
    • Getting the pin to slide between the two layers of fabric is the only somewhat difficult part.

Placing the Pin Hooks Evenly:

You place the hooks evenly across the panel with one at each end. You can skip all the instructions below and just eyeball it,  placing one hook at each end and attempt to layout the other 7 in between with even spacing between each hook, but this can be harder than it looks and if your spacing isn’t even your pleats will be different sizes and look haphazard.

You can measure all the way across and divide,  to work out how many inches (cm) will be between the hooks. Then just measure down the correct distance and place the hooks. If you are good at math and measuring, then you do not have to use the folding method to get your hooks evenly spaced.

If you are not much good at math and measuring, I have describe a simple way to do it, below. All it involves is repeatedly folding a section in half and inserting a pin hook. This instruction is for 9 hooks per panel which will be the right number for most single panels unless they are very narrow. If I number the hooks from left to right, this is the order in which you place them across the panel.

1—-5-—4-—6-—3—-9-—7––8-—2

NOTE: The instruction below is for a single panel. When I say left side and right side, I am  referring to the left side and the right side of that single panel, not the left and right side of a pair of curtains.

  • Lay out the curtain panel, back side facing you.
  • Measure down the length of the hook (mine were 1-1/2″) at the side seam and insert a hook. Repeat at the other side seam.
  • Fold the panel in half to find the centre of it and mark the  centre.
  • Open it up again, measure down the correct distance, mark where the point of the hook will go at the centre mark and insert a hook. You now have inserted 3 of 9 hooks. 3 more will go to the left of the centre hook and 3 more will go to the right of the centre hook. Now move to work on placing the hooks on the left side of the panel.
  • Starting at the left edge (facing you) of the panel, fold the curtain to the right so that the outside hook meets the centre hook. Mark the fold (which is half way between the two hooks), open up and insert the pin.
  • Now fold the outside pin to the right to meet the next pin over. Mark where the fold is, open up and insert the pin.
  • This time take the centre pin and fold it back to the left, to meet the next pin over. Mark, open up and place the pin. The left side of this panel is now done.
  • Repeat on the right side of this panel, fold in half, mark, open , place the pin three times, so that you are slowly reducing the space between the pins by half each time.
  • When you are done, lay the curtain out flat to check that your pins are evenly spaced and you haven’t missed any!

Then hang your curtains.

After the curtains are hung on the rings, push the rings close together and pull the flat part between the rings out toward you to make the pleat. When they are all pulled out evenly, give them a little press with your fingers and they should hang like the ones shown above.

GROMMET PANEL CONVERSION

You can also convert rod pocket panels to grommet panels. Instead of hooks, use grommets! Just go to Fabricland or any other supplier of drapery fabric and supplies and purchase 7-9 grommets for each panel. Space the grommets evenly across the panel, using one of the methods described above for placing pin hooks. Install the grommets as instructed on the package and you have grommet panel draperies!! Easy as pie.

Also See: “Turn Rod Pocket Panels Into Real Pinch Pleats”, “More About Converting Rod Pocket Panels”, “Solving Ready Made Drapery Panel Problems”.

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