Sewing Project, Flat Sheet Curtians

I've been on a mission to find curtains for our bedroom. Just plain, white, cotton, curtains. I didn't think this would be a hard venture, but I was wrong, so very wrong. White sheers, now that's something that's easy to find. White with polka dots, stripes, flowers, frogs, miscellaneous embroidered things...everywhere. There's also a bumper crop of curtains that come in every color under the sun except white.

I did finally find some at some of the higher end stores, but I refused to pay sometimes over $80 a panel for plain, white, curtains. For our three bedroom windows that would be $480 not including rods etc.

So I tried the fabric stores. It was still going to be pricey with the amount of fabric I would need, even with a half off coupon. I also wasn't thrilled with the weight of the cotton they had to offer. I considered linen, but again, no white.

Then I found an awesome deal! I found twin, white, flat sheets on sale for $5! The material was horribly stiff for sheets, heavy and kinda rough, I felt bad for the person who had to cuddle up with this material every night in their bed. But the stiffness was great for sheet material. The great thing was that half the work was already done. I used the large hem at the bottom. Hung the curtain rods and measured to the floor molding. To this measurement I added 1 1/2 inches for the rod pocket, and an additional 5 1/2 inches for the ruffle, I double this measurement to create the pocket that folded back on itself, adding 1 inch for the inside hem. I surged the end, folded at 8 inched and sewed straight across for each pocket. Voila, 1 curtain panel. I used one twin sheet for each panel, for a total cost of $30! There was enough material left over to make the pullbacks. I simply folded 8 1/2 inches of fabric in half surged the edge, turned them inside out and ironed them flat. Then I hemmed the ends and sewed a piece of green ribbon in a loop to slip onto the hooks. I starched the heck out of the finished curtains and ironed them crisp. Zach is going to forge us some decorative rods and matching hooks, so for now we have the inexpensive ones that work just fine.