How to Sew Ruffle Valances on A Vision to Remember


I am so excited to be here with you today to share with you how to sew your very own ruffle valance curtains. I have been making these for a little over a year for my Etsy Shop and thought I would share with you all how to make them.  I also use this same method for crib skirts.


A few things that I have learned after making about a million of these curtains (or I do the same exact thing for crib skirts and bed dust ruffles):


Sewing ruffles is time consuming.  No way around it.  BUT with that being said, there are ways to make it quicker.

Remember I didn't say that it is hard, because it really is simple, but it does take time.

So here are a few tools you  might want to have in your arsenal BUT you don't have to have them.
  • A serger that does a rolled hem
  • A ruffler foot for your sewing machine
Finished curtain size: 42" wide by 18" tall

Materials required (assuming width of fabric is 44 inches):
1/3 yard of 4 cotton fabrics for the 4 different tiers (the fabrics I used  are Gray Matters More Mosaic, Gray Matters More MedallionsYellow Essential Dots by Moda , and Gray Shades by Riley Blake
1/2 yard of the fabric you will use for the back of the curtain

Cutting:
Cut from each of your 4 tier fabrics 2-5" wide by the width of the fabric
Cut 4-4.5" wide pieces from your backing fabric.














Sew each of of the 2 pieces of fabric that match each along the short end of the fabrics














IF you have a serger that does a rolled hem sew along the bottom edge of the 4 tier fabrics.


If you aren't able to do a rolled hem, then hem the bottom edges however you prefer

Hem each of the short ends of the tier fabrics and the backing fabrics.

I serged the ends to prevent fraying and then I folded  the fabric over 1/4 inch and sewed


If you have a ruffler foot, ruffle all the tier pieces of fabric along the top edge (you haven't done any sewing along that edge yet) 
Now comes the assembly of the curtain.  Take your bottom tier fabric and one of the backing pieces.  Put your ruffled piece of fabric on the bottom with the backing fabric on top of it with right sides facing each other. 

Serge (or sew if you don't have a serger) the two pieces together

Flip up the backing piece, then grab your 2nd tier piece.  Layer your backing piece that is sewn to the first tier on the bottom, with right side facing up, then the 2nd tier fabric, and lastly the backing fabric with the right side facing down.  Sew the pieces together.  
Repeat with your remaining 2 tiers.  On the last row you will need to fold your backing piece in half so that you are sewing a tube for your curtain rod to go through.  In this step you will be sewing 4 pieces of fabric at the same time and not 3 like in the previous 2 steps.


 
You might need to iron your ruffles down a little after you are all done.  Just make sure that while you are ironing that you don't smash the ruffles so they aren't fluffy.


Now you have a beautiful ruffled curtain valance!  I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial!

If you enjoyed this tutorial make sure to check out:


How to sew Ruffle Curtains

http://www.avisiontoremember.com/2014/06/how-to-sew-simple-ruffle-curtains.html



How to Add Minky to a Quilt:


http://www.avisiontoremember.com/2011/06/adding-minky-to-rag-quilts.html




Follow A Vision to Remember:

Follow on Bloglovin

4 comments:

Kelly J said...

Thank you for sharing! One of my New Year's Resolutions is to finally make curtains for all the windows in our house so I may be coming back to this tutorial next month!

Unknown said...

Great tutorial! I just muddled through ruffle valance this weekend the old fashion way.

Anonymous said...

Just added this to my Free Patterns & Tutorials pinterest board! Thanks for sharing!

vicky myers said...

Great tutorial - would be fun as a skirt:)

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you! Let me know what you think