Monday Made-It (NO SEW Curtains!!)

I am linking up with the wonderful Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made-It!

Do you like to sew?  Like with a sewing machine?  Well, if you do, that is great....and I am jealous!  The sewing machine and I do not get along!  I don't actually own one unless you count the teeny tiny handheld one that is still sitting in the box that I bought for scrapbooking.  I am afraid to use it because I just know that I will mess up that thread!  Actually, there was a sewing machine from the 1960's in our attic when we bought our house and I gave it to my sister.  My mom helped me sew curtains for my basement a year ago and she was a lifesaver but it took so long.

So, I did a little researching and read about people making curtains with a HOT GLUE GUN  See this site that gave me inspiration!  YES!

To make these four adorable curtains for my classroom, I needed:

1. fabric
2. scissors
3. hot glue gun
4.  ruler
5. pen

Here is the back view of the four colors I made for the valances.

Here is a preview of the finished product hanging in my dining room.  

I cannot wait to get them up at school!

Here is a short tutorial of what I did to make the curtains (it may not be the right way, but it worked for me:)  

I used only one yard of each color so I kept the side edges just as they were and did not touch them.  My windows are each 37" wide and the fabric is only 44" wide but it will work and it cost half of what 2 yds. would!  So, all I had to do was finish the bottom and top edges.  I started with the bottom edge.  I cut the fabric and then measured 17" from the top and made dashes with my pen on the back of the fabric every couple inches.  This was my attempt at "leveling the fabric" since it didn't have a pattern to follow.

Next, I folded the fabric up to my marks and ironed along that seam to make the fabric the same length all the way across.

Next, I hot glued the bottom seam in place.  I only glued a few inches at a time to keep the glue from cooling too fast.  This is important to keep the bond strong!  It was difficult to take a picture quickly:

 Next, I worked on the top seam.  I wanted a little ruffle above the place where the rod goes.  I folded the fabric over about 4" and ironed the seam making sure it was level by checking to make sure the  measurement was equal from the top of the curtain to the bottom hem along the entire length of the fabric. 

 Then, I marked one inch from the seam along the length of the fabric for my first hot glue line.

I drew a nice line along my one inch marks and then marked 1.5" from the 1" line.  This will be the place for my skinny tension rod.  The spot above is for the ruffle at the top.  I drew another line along the 1.5" line mark.  Finally, I hot glued along each line (the top line first and only a couple inches at a time).

Voila!  I have a place for my curtain rod!

I will post pictures of them hanging in my room when I get my room ready:)  It is getting close to crunch time!  

I also made a table skirt with this adorable owl fabric.  Again, I used the hot glue gun to finish the edges.  I made one skirt for the front (57.5") and two for the sides (27.5") and bought 4 yds. of fabric.

I applied sticky velcro tape and plan on putting the other part on the under edge of the table.  Keeping my fingers crossed that my measurements were accurate and the velcro works (since I noticed just before applying it that it states on the back, "not recommended for fabric").  I bought this at WalMart.

Picture of velcro along the top:

Both projects combined took me 3 hours.  Not bad for four curtains and 3 separate table skirt pieces.  I used pieces I already used as a guide for measurements to save time whenever possible.

I hope everything holds up!!  I will let you know if the curtains start falling down in a couple months:)

On a side note, we had a quiet, relaxing time in Cooks Forest with family and friends last week!  I only thought about how much work I wasn't getting done a "few" times:)  Here are my little loves on a hike:

Happy Monday everyone!  Fall is right around the corner....my favorite season:)