How to Make Drapery Panels

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Sewing your own custom drapes is a great way to get the perfect look for your room and fit for your window. Since windows come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, it can be hard to find store-bought window treatments that have the right proportions for every window. Making your own drapes requires careful measurements and planning but simple, straightforward sewing. Scroll down to watch remaining videos.

Materials List:

Upholstery fabric
Drapery Weight No Tab 1" #100186
Basting tape
Thread

Tools List:

Clear Acrylic Ruler
Soapstone Fabric Marking Pencil White #102766
Multiuse Pins 1-1/2" (250 pack) #102985
Cutting tool
Sewing machine

Make Your Own Panel Drapes

In the video, we chose a Sunbrella® Upholstery Fabric, Elegance Marble, for these drapes. Sunbrella is a little heavier than traditional drapery fabric, but it gives the window a presence in the room and will block out a lot of light. When choosing a fabric for drapes, we recommend looking for a fabric that is lighter weight. For fabric recommendations, see our Drapery Fabric category.

Additional Drapery Tips

If you want to give the drapes more fullness, you can add a drapery lining fabric to the back of your decorative fabric. This will both add body to the drapes and also protect the decorative fabric from the sunlight.

The key to making professional-looking window treatments is careful measurements and planning. To learn more about measuring your windows, as well as design elements to consider in your measurements, read our "How to Measure for Window Treatments" guide (#200593XHT). Another great resource to help with your fabric ordering and planning is the Sailrite® Fabric Calculator.

Have you ever made your own drapes? Do you have any helpful tips to share or things to consider? Share your ideas and experiences in the comments.