Curtains and drapes are a great way to complement your room, but some are too long and need to be altered. Shortening drapes may be something you can do yourself or find a professional curtain hemming services nearby – or you can send it to us through our online tailoring services.
When buying curtains, it is often hard to find them in that perfect length for every window. Of course you want to avoid getting expensive custom made curtains in the exact length you need. So hemming them can be a regular occurrence. Many can just simply run them through their sewing machines.
Trim the sheer to about ½ inch longer than your desired finished length. Attach the hem tape to the front of the sheer and turn it to the back, creating a neat hem on the front of the sheer.
When curtains appear too long, try sewing a hem, which can allow you to shorten curtains without cutting curtains to length so you can retain the fabric if you want to. Another way of shortening curtains is to incorporate a folded design with buttons as fasteners. Folding the curtain hem up creates a double hem.
To hem your curtain without sewing, you will use Heat'n'Bond Tape, which is essentially heat-activated, double-sided tape that holds strong on fabric. As I mentioned before, for a wide, thick hem, I highly recommend using the Ultra hold. NOTE: The Ultra Heat'n'Bond Tape usually results in a permanent hem.
Standard floor-length curtains should have a three to four-inch hem, plus another three to four inches for the double fold. Your curtains should then be six to eight inches longer than where you place your pins.
Shorten the Top
You can shorten these without a permanent hem by folding the top over toward the back of the curtain. Use safety pins to secure the fold down to create a new pocket to slide the rod into. If you pin only into the lining of the curtain, the pins won't show on the front of the curtain.
The easiest way to do this would be to mark off 1½ inch (3.81 centimeters) at the top and bottom of your curtain, and then to fold it. Use sewing pins to hold the hem down. Fold the hem inward twice by 1½ inch (3.81 centimeters). Be sure to press the hem with an iron each time.
Because of their translucent qualities, sheer curtains can present specific challenges when a hem is required. Stitching details on sheer curtains should be subtle and inconspicuous at the hemline. Interior designers favor double-turned 4-inch hems, using a special machine stitch for custom-made sheers.
Shorten ring-hung or tab-style curtains by turning them into pleated drapery, using pleating tape to decrease sewing time. Alternatively, bring up excess material using decorative clips or buttons along the header.
The easiest way to shorten curtains without hemming is to move the curtain rod. Optimum rod placement is one-third of the distance between the ceiling and the top of the window frame, but mounting the curtains higher will increase the perceived size of the window, and also create the illusion that the walls are taller.
The 'Norm' if you like, would be to have a 3 inch (7.5cm) hem. However if you are making curtains that are quite large or long, you may find that a 4 inch (10cm) hem gives proportionately better appearance. Or, if your curtains are going to be quite short, hemming them with a 2 inch (5cm) hem would be sufficient.
Lay the curtain panel flat on the table, the wrong side of the fabric visible, the bottom edge toward you. Turn the hem up the by the allocated hem allowance and press the bottom edge. Pin the hem in place across the width of the panel. Typically, curtain panels have a 4-inch double hem.
Before you hem your curtains, hang your curtain rod(s) to your preferred height, and go ahead and put your curtains onto the rod. TIP! Some curtains shrink a lot, so if you anticipate washing your curtains regularly, go ahead and pre-wash them before you hem them!
Weighted drapery tape is easy to install and is particularly good for sheers. Simply lay it at the bottom of the hem across the width of the curtain. You can tack it with a couple stitches at the ends to hold it in place. Vinyl covered weights are great for outdoor curtains because they can withstand getting wet.
It depends on factors such as window length, but more often than not, curtains look best when touching the floor. However, how low you want your curtains to hang will determine what you want to achieve. In reality, different decorating styles employ varying curtain lengths.
While using fusible hem tape is a quick alternative to sewing a hem in place, it is permanent and cannot be removed. If you are hemming a garment that may need to be adjusted at some point, for example hemming pants, this may not be the best solution as there is no way to remove the adhesive once it has been fused.
Place the tape at the bottom of the curtain with the glue side against the wrong side of the fabric. Iron, then remove the protective paper. Turn down the fabric at the desired hem length and iron again. Turn down the fabric at the desired hem length and iron.