Extend Your Curtains

I'm so excited to share this project!  I'm so happy with these curtains. I seriously walk by the dining room anytime I can to look at them. They are perfect for that room. But they were not perfect when I first bought them. 

I found these curtains at TJMaxx on clearance for $20. They match my home decor perfectly so I had to have them. I didn't really read the dimensions when I bought them. I just knew I had to have them. Well when I put them up they looked just so sad. I was not pleased. I considered taking them back but I'm so glad I didn't. 

When we purchased our home the old owners left all the curtain rods and curtains they had in the home. Although I was not fond of the curtains I didn't mind not having to buy curtain rods. 

These are the original curtains when we bought the home. As you can see they don't skim the floor, which is a must for when I decorate. I took the curtains down and added them to my scrap fabric box because I know I'll find a need for the fabric sometime. With my new curtains not skimming the ground I knew I had to do something. Lower the rod?  No because that would make the window look smaller. My only option was to lengthen the curtains. Which made me think that taking the curtains down was a great opportunity for me to take the curtain rod down as well. I decided to spray paint it white and hang it higher. 

Back to the curtains. I cut the curtains in two pieces. I had some white curtain panels in my fabric box that I decided to sew in between the two pieces of the cut curtains. 

Sewing is not a strong skill of mine but these were pretty simple. Cut straight lines then sew straight lines. It didn't take long at all. 

My other half hung the brackets for me and when he did we measured from the ceiling down. Not the best idea in an old house because the ceiling was kind of at an angle. You can't tell looking at it but once the curtain rods were up it was obviously not level. 

This isn't my best photography work but you can kind of tell in the photo that the curtain rods slopes up from left to right. I didn't want to put more holes in the wall. In fact I didn't want to move the brackets even if it didn't leave holes because the kids were getting home from school soon and I wanted this project to be completed. So I cut a couple strips of card stock and folded them like an accordion and just slipped them in between the bracket and the rod. Unless someone goes to the other side of the China cabinet then it is not noticeable. 

I just love how these curtains look and they were inexpensive. Even though I had to extend them it was worth the effort. They look awesome!