The new curtains for my craft room are quite possibly the most colourful curtains EVER!  They are not just any curtains, they are Pantone colour chart curtains! I saw the fabric for them on Spoonflower, and (in my usual style) wondered what I could make with them. Do you know that feeling when you love a fabric so much that you have to get the right project for it? That’s how I felt about this! I really love the fact that all the colour numbers are part of the fabric.

 

 

Measuring up

 

I wanted to make the most of as much of the print as possible. When I came up with the idea of curtains, I thought that this would be the perfect project for it! I measured up, and worked out that the panel pieces weren’t quite big enough for the drop. I didn’t have quite enough money in the budget to buy enough to make all of the curtains in this fabric, so considered making panels of white at the top and bottom to fit my window. I ordered 4 panels of the Pantone fabric (although 3 was enough in the end), and some white Kona cotton. It made sense to use this, because that’s what the Pantone fabric is printed on.

 

 

Before I made them, I was a bit worried that this would look a bit weird (and that I wouldn’t be able to make it look very straight), but I actually think that they look better with the white. It seems to set off the panels a bit more. Yay!

 

Making the curtains

 

This post isn’t really a ‘how to make curtains’ post, but I thought I’d share a few photos and tips from my making process in case you decide to make your own! The fabric from Spoonflower comes printed in one pice, so the first thing to do was to separate each colour chart. I used a rotary cutter and a quilting ruler to do this really carefully. Take your time with this bit to avoid accidentally cutting off any of the writing!

 

 

After measuring up, I decided to cut one panel in half so that each curtain would be one and a half panels wide. I matched the pieces as if the next chart was starting next to it, so the half piece is on the outer edge of each curtain. It took a little while to make sure that they were in the right place! Patience is key with pattern matching this fabric, but it’s worth the effort. Once I’d done the, I pinned and then stitched together (in two rows to make it really secure), trimming get seam allowances.

 

 

 

 

Once the pieces were attached, I measured out some strips of white fabric to attach to the top and bottom. The finished depth of each needed to be 18cm, so I cut 22cm to allow for joining and hems. I had intended to do one long strip of white along the bottom, but I messed up my maths! I ended up with a strip the same size as the panel, so had to add another half on the end (don’t ask – maths is not my strong point, that’s why I’m not a quilter!). Again, I thought this would look a bit weird, but it’s fine and I actually think that they hang alright so that’s the main thing!

 

 

 

Once stitched, it just needed a good press before I could attach the lining. I just used a cheap white polyester cotton lining for these curtains. I didn’t want them to be too bulky, as I need lots of light in my craft room!

 

 

Putting the curtains together

 

Once I had attached the lining I could add the curtain tape. To work out the bottom hem, I hung up the curtains and pinned the bottom hem before stitching. To be honest, I ended up doing most of this by eye in the end. I often work this way because it seems to be more accurate than my measuring…! As I said earlier, this isn’t a ‘how to make curtains’ post because it’s a bit complicated in many ways, depending on your window size and the kind of curtains you want to make. There’s a really useful post here about thinking about curtain types and a step-by-step guide based on that. There is also a helpful post on the Spoonflower blog about making curtains too.

 

 

Ta-dah!

 

I know I say this about LOTS of my projects, but I am so pleased with how my Pantone colour chart curtains turned out! They look even better than I hoped they would. Yay! And I actually have one more panel left that I didn’t use…so I’ll have to have a think about how I use that. If you have a go at making something with this amazing fabric, let me know in the comments below. I’d love to see all your colourful creations!