No-Sew Curtains from Ikea Tea Towels!

Soooo…

We’re doing a basement redo now;)

Basically, our basement had a split personality. It was half Ravens Man Cave, half kid playroom.

The playroom part was (once upon a time) filled with BIG stuff – train table, activity table, giant blocks, a library – all that cute baby/kid craziness that can take up an entire house.

But the kids are bigger now, and the big tables are gone, all those musical ginormous toys that go off at the worst possible times, like when the baby would be falling asleep…you know those ones;) So we’re left with half the basement all ‘little kid-ified’ on the walls, but nothing else really. It’s time to unify the madness, and make it one big happy family space. I’m SUPER excited about it. I never liked the basement and was never motivated to do anything about it, until now. Suddenly I had these big visions and the hubs was totally on board. (This may or may not have something to do with the fact that he’s built an entire ARCADE down here…I’m guessing it does…)

I’m going with super light blue walls – it’s SO dark down there and well, we know how I feel about blue, don’t we?! We’re keeping the couch, which is like a caramel brown color. Looks really nice with the blue, and I’m going to play in a bunch of bright accent colors in throw pillows, art, etc. Gonna be F-U-N and playful, but with a family room vibe. The only natural light we get down there is from those tiny little basement windows. You know the kind – these lovelies:

DIY curtains from IKEA tea towels

I wanted to make some cute curtains that would still let the light in, but give us some privacy.

And it hit me out of the clear blue sky when I was at IKEA last week. I spotted these cute tea towels….

Wheels started spinning people. I mean, fast.

I threw six of them in my cart. They were 79 cents a piece, so seriously, I was spending less than five bucks to make THREE WINDOW TREATMENTS.

What???

I mean, you just gotta love that place.

I came home and couldn’t wait to see if my plan was going to work.

I busted out the ironing board, heated up the iron, and got out my stitch witchery.

DIY No Sew Curtains

(I would’ve used my iron-on hem tape, because it’s made for thicker fabrics, but I was all out. Luckily, the stitch witchery worked out fine. Which is a good thing, because there was an hour until the kids got home from school and Mama didn’t have time to run to the store and heaven knows I couldn’t have waited a day when I want something DONE.)

I didn’t even need to cut these guys. I knew how long I needed it to be, based on the window. I folded one side over a couple inches…

DIY no sew curtains

I then unfolded it, and laid a strip of stitch witchery down. (If you don’t know what this stuff is, basically, it’s made for people like me who have zero clue when it comes to sewing but want to pretend you do.;) The iron heats it up and it forms a bond, mimicking what you would do if you knew how to turn on a sewing machine. Beautiful stuff, let me tell you.)

DIY no sew curtains

Once I laid it on there and was happy with the placement of it, I placed the fabric back over and pressed the iron down. A few seconds on each spot will do the trick. (Read the back of the label for more detailed instructions if you want!)

DIY no sew curtains

Sorry for the blurry pic, it’s tough to iron with one hand and snap a pic with your left!

Aaaaand now we’ve got a nice little loop for the curtain rod!

no sew DIY curtains

Ta-da!

DIY no sew curtains

And if I want it closed at night, we just pull both sides closed.

DIY no sew curtains

Not bad for $1.58 a window?!!

DIY no sew curtains

Stay tuned for more fun stuff down here in the basement!

 

Comments

  1. Rondell says:

    Love them, I have ones like them but found them at Walmart, I think yours are longer though!
    Great idea!

  2. great idea!

  3. Sherri S. says:

    Love this idea!!!! 🙂

    Happy weekend!
    Sherri

  4. Swung into Ikea this weekend and immediately thought of you when I saw their kitchen towels. Can’t wait to see what you come up with for your basement. You have the best creations.

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