DIY: Creating No-Sew Curtains

21 July 2016 / 3 comments
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
If you're looking for a way to spruce up your classroom, office, or even a room in your home - I have the perfect DIY project for you. It's easy, inexpensive, and best of all? It requires no sewing!
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.

DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
Curtain rods 
I used spring mounted rods since I am not allowed to make holes in the walls at school. Be sure you measure your windows as they sell several different sizes - something I had to learn the hard way...
Fabric scraps, ribbons, lace, etc. 
Back in the day I used to do a lot of quilting, so I have a lot of scraps of fabric in my storage closet, but you can also purchase fat quarters or even miscellaneous bits of fabric at your local craft store.
Scissors
Fabric scissors are the best, but you could also use pinking shears or regular scissors as long as they are sharp enough to cut the fabric.
Ruler
Anything that measures in inches will work, but honestly you could "eyeball it" in a pinch.
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
Cutting board and rotary cutter
As I mentioned before, I have a lot of leftover supplies from my quilting days, so I used these instead of scissors. I found it to be faster, but it's totally optional.
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
Use the ruler to measure and mark the fabric at 2-inch increments. (I found that 2-inch wide strips make for a nice curtain or valance. You might experiment with different widths or even use various widths to add interest.) If you are using ribbon or lace, you can skip this part.
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.

DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
After cutting your fabric into 2-inch wide strips, determine the desired length of your curtains. For me, I wanted some light to still come through the bottom of my windows, so I made my strips 43-45 inches long. Really, I was using scraps and I just figured whatever width I had was good enough. BUT, it's important to remember that you'll need TWICE the length (plus a couple inches) since each strip will be tied in the middle, giving you two hanging parts.
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
You might want to create a pattern of some sort or you may prefer a more random approach. My poor OCD mind couldn't handle too much "random", so I chose to follow the color order of the rainbow. My classroom already has a lot of red, so I swapped pink for red in my pattern and included several shades of some colors.
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
Once you've determined the order you want your fabric strips, begin tying them to the curtain rod. Since my windows are super high and I never really touch the curtains, I didn't knot the fabric strips. I just tied them once. This held the fabric in place without adding too much bulk. I liked the look, but I have seen it done several ways and you might prefer the knotted look. Go ahead and experiment. That's half the fun!
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
As you tie the fabric to the curtain rod, squish the tied pieces together to create a fuller curtain. Spread them out if you prefer a less puffy look. Once you're happy with the look, continue tying fabric strips to the curtain rod until it is completely full.
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
What are you waiting for?!? You're done. That's it. Nothing more. Just hang those cheerful curtains up in the window or door frame and enjoy your perfectly amazing work! In fact, take a picture and post it to Instagram. Tag me @iteachstem so I can see your version of these super easy curtains!
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.
I have two windows and a back door, so I made three sets of these curtains so everything would be matchy-matchy, just the way I like it!

And...
I loved making these so much that I ended up creating a table skirt for the ceramic art studio my hubby and I own to hide the clutter of boxes and bubble wrap and unfinished pieces. They are so cute and WAY easy. I just tied the fabric strips to wooden dowel rods and used command hooks to attach them to the table! I'm in love!
DIY Teacher Hack: How to create cute, custom, no-sew curtains for your classroom. Add a colorful touch to any room using scrap material, ribbons, or lace. Don't miss this tutorial.

3 comments:

  1. LOVE the table skirt idea! My brain wheels are turning now!

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    Replies
    1. Isn't is cute? I'm making two more. Stopped at Walmart to grab dowel rods tonight. Totally obsessed with this way to hide clutter!

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  2. So colorful! I love this solution. Thanks for the detailed instructions!

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