My friend Denise bought some incredibly cute drapes at World Market. But given the height of her ceilings, she decided she wanted to add on about 18 inches in brown linen to the bottom of the drapes. I say great idea! It's an inexpensive way to take mainstream drapes and make them custom design and custom length.
Denise had first tried to use what they call hem tape (something like that) but the thickness of the brown material she was trying to add on was really too substantial to be held by tape.
First, I trimmed the width of the brown fabric to correspond with the pre-sewn drapes. Then I ironed. One of the delightful evils of sewing is you always have to have an iron out and ready; it's a necessary evil I must tolerate if I want to sew, and is usually the only time I ever iron my dear husband's shirts.
I hemmed the sides in, then I went for the top. I wanted the unattractive, turned under top of the brown fabric to be hidden.
Then I pinned it to the back of the drape.
Then I sewed that sucker on! Take care to use a thread color that will not show up on front of the fabric. I know there's a way to sew where it won't show, but I haven't figured that out yet. So I just go search for the right thread (HINT: Always pull out the actual thread and lay it across the actual fabric. You'd be surprised how much the color changes from the roll to the individual thread. This is a fool-proof method of getting the right color. You're welcome.)
All that remains was to hem the bottom evenly. Since Denise wanted it as tall as possible, I didn't have to conform to 84 inches, or 96 inches. I just made sure it was even and voila!
Please excuse Wild Thing, he doesn't like to be left out.
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