Curtain Tie Backs

I suddenly have a bit of time to myself this morning and thought I would write up this blog that’s been sitting in my head for awhile. Benzo took the big kid to an art class and the little one is asleep in the swing next to me. I should probably clean up the pile of dishes sitting in front of me but blogging is a lot more appealing. I’m feeling much more rested this week but only because I’ve made sleep a high priority. Which means almost everything else is not a priority – dishes, laundry, cleaning have all fallen by the wayside. I’m trying to be cool about it because I know it’s only for a short while and spending time with my family while I’m off work is a lot more important!

So today’s post is on another craft project I did for the nursery. The first one I wrote about was the whale canvas nursery art project where I used my painting skills. Well I also dusted off my sewing skills for the nursery and was quite pleased with the result!

I originally was going to make curtains for the nursery. But the nursery has three windows which means I would’ve had to sew six curtain panels. See I have this problem of thinking I can do everything, including sewing six curtain panels in the last month of pregnancy, among other projects. For possibly the first time I was realistic with myself and decided I would not sew the curtain panels. Instead I bought cheap panels at target and sewed simple tie-backs for said curtains. The end result:

I started out using the following blog as a guide:

How to Make Curtain Tie Backs @ Homemade Ginger

I didn’t read the instructions correctly so my end result is a bit different. The first set I made as written in the blog except I did not top stitch around the entire strip after turning right side out. This was the part I read incorrectly. I turned my strip inside out and folded in the open edge. Then I just slip stitched the open side closed. I think I actually like it this way better.

After the first set I decided I wanted them shorter in length. I learned that the length is going to depend on your curtains. If you have thick or fluffy curtains you may need a longer tie back. Or if you don’t want your curtains pulled back very far. After hanging up the first set I wanted my windows to let in more light when pulled back so I shortened the length of the strip from 22 inches to 19 inches, pre-sewing. That worked out great. So I would recommend testing out the tie back with a measuring tape or string to see if the length is appropriate, before you start sewing.

The curtain tie backs were super simple to make and they really add a special touch to plain cheap curtains. It was the perfect compromise for me. If you have basic sewing skills you can make these!