Bathroom makeover on the cheap
Shower curtain, wall hangings and fancy towels
I decided against the trash can and the tissue box holder to save money. The previous tissue box holder was this greenish color of the other accessories, but it is ceramic and of decent quality. |
Part 1: Dramatic, ruffled shower curtain
What’s black and white and elegant all over? My new shower curtain. Inspired by my new bathroom decorations, I knew right away which fabric I wanted for my shower curtain. Here’s how I made it.
Supplies
(Click fabrics for direct links for purchase at Warehouse Fabrics Inc.)
I needed to match prints, so I used 5.5 yards of the fabric. I used 3 yards of the ribbon. |
The pattern
I sort of made this up as I went, and this is how I did it: |
The process
I took my 5.5 yards and opened it up. I folded it in half so that the cut edges were at the top and the fold was at the bottom. The selvages were on the sides. I cut across the width of the fabric at 82 inches. Now I have two pieces that are the full width of the fabric times 82 inches. This leaves me some room for matching the pattern lengthwise later.
Set aside the piece of fabric at the bottom, where the fold is. You’ll need this later. Also set aside one of the big pieces you just cut. |
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The other big piece will be your main shower curtain panel. The shower curtain will consist of three panels: one wider one and two smaller ones on either side, which is standard in home decorating sewing when it comes to things like curtains. It is more pleasing to the eye and helps the curtain hang more nicely. I was aiming for a center panel of about 50 inches and two side panels of about 12 inches each. (A standard shower curtain is about 72″x72″, but you have some leeway here). My center piece, once I accounted for the pattern repeats, was about 51.5 inches wide. | |
Because I wanted to match the prints across the span of the curtain, I selected a part of the pattern that would be easy to line up all the way down the length of the curtain. Click the photo for a larger version. The top edge of my ruler is lined up where I’m going to match my pattern to the piece attached to it. I also added a red dotted line. |
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But, I want this to be my seam line, so I need to add a 1/2″ seam allowance. The dotted line shows where my pattern will line up, as in picture above, and the blue line I have drawn on my fabric (and where the ruler edge now is) will be my cutting line. So, basically, I have lined up the 1/2″ mark on my ruler with the “matching line.” I drew a line with fabric marker all the way down. |
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Cut along this line. This will be the piece you match to the center panel of the curtain.
Then measure 12 inches from this edge and cut. This will be your outer edge of the curtain. |
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You’ll end up with this. Do the same on the other side of the fabric. You’ll want them to be reverse images of each other, as far as the pattern goes, since they’ll be on opposite sides of the main curtain panel. |
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Line up the patterns and pin center panel to outer panels. Now, the tops and bottoms of the curtain may not line up. Line up your pattern and then trim the top and bottom later. That’s why I left some extra room in the length. |
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Sew panels together with 1/2″ seam allowance. I also serged my seams allowances with a serger. You can finish them with a zig-zag on your regular machine if you don’t have a serger. |
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Hem outer edges of curtain with a one-inch hem (fold and press 1/2″, then fold and press another 1/2″). |
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Make a 4″ hem on the top by pressing down 2″, then 2″ again and sewing. | |
Now it’s time for the ruffle. Remember how you initially cut off the folded end of the big piece of fabric and set it aside? Now retrieve that and cut it lengthwise along the fold so you have two pieces. Sew them together in the center. I then serged my seam. My pieces was 114″ across and 17″ tall. |
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Hem each side with a 1″ hem (1/2″ fold, press, 1/2″ fold). Make a 2″ hem along the bottom, being mindful of the direction of the pattern so that it goes the same way as the rest of the shower curtain. | |
I initially decided to use the ruffler feature on my serger to gather this piece of fabric, but it was so long that it just didn’t gather it enough. So I decided to do a sort of pleated ruffle by hand. I decided against trying to do long running stitches and pulling to gather because the fabric is heavy and the piece is so long that I knew it would probably just break the thread.
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I roughly hand pleated every few inches and pinned until it was the same width as the shower curtain. I first marked the center of the shower curtain and lined that up with the center seam of the ruffle. The yellow pin at top right is marking the center of the shower curtain and below that is the center seam of the ruffle.
Next, I basted these pleats in place using the long stitch on my sewing machine. |
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Along the top of the shower curtain, evenly mark a dozen spots for buttonholes. Start about an inch from each edge and space as evenly as possible. Using your sewing machine, make a buttonhole at each dot. I made them approximately 6-1/4″ apart and 3/4″ long. For help with buttonholes, see our tutorial here. | |
Then, I sewed the ruffle to the bottom of the shower curtain.
The bows are optional. I took wide ribbon and tied two bows, then used safety pins to secure them to the curtain so that they are easily removable if I want to wash the curtain. |
Part 2: Fabric wall hangings
Supplies
(Click fabrics for direct links for purchase at Warehouse Fabrics Inc.)
I simply used scraps of the fabrics above and mixed prints up. I bought two picture frames. |
The process
Part 3: Dressed-up towels
Supplies
You’ll need enough ribbon to cover the width of the number of towels you’re decorating. I did two bath towels and one hand towel. |