Drapes with grommets hang well, helping to provide a clean, modern appearance. Simple, unlined curtain panels with grommet headers are rather easy to create, demanding rotating cuts of fabric which you want simply to hem on top, bottom and sides before ripping the grommets. However, attaching the grommets requires careful measuring and marking.
Measure, Mark and Cut
Gauge the length of the curtain pole; multiply the result by 1.5 to allow for the fullness of the curtains; then divide the result by 2 to get two curtain panels. The outcome is that the finished width of each panel.
Insert 6 inches into the finished width of each curtain panel to permit for 1.5-inch, double-fold side hems. This provides you the cut width for every panel.
Measure vertically from the pole to the stage at which you want the hem of the curtains to fall. Add 1.5 inches to get a header over the grommets. This is the finished length of the curtain panels.
Insert 8 inches into the finished length to permit for a 4-inch, double-fold bottom hem. For your curtain header, which will incorporate the grommets, add 4.5 inches. This contains a 1/2-inch single hem plus 4 inches to adapt the grommets.
Press your curtain fabric with an iron. The fabric should be pre-laundered. Mark the dimensions determined for every curtain panel, and cut the panels using sharp fabric scissors.
Sew the Curtain Panels
Press, pin and sew the top hem. Fold and press on the upper raw edge of the cloth panels over to the incorrect side by 1/2 inch; then fold this border over again by 4 inches. Press the hem and put pins along the lower folded border. Sew along this border using the straight stitch setting on a sewing machine. Eliminate the pins as you sew.
Press, pin and sew the lower hem. Fold the raw edge of every fabric panel over to the incorrect side by 4 inches, another 4 inches. Press the folds; put pins along the upper folded border, and sew along this border using a straight stitch.
Press, pin and sew the side hems. Fold the raw border along each side of the cloth panel over to the incorrect side by 1.5 inches, another 1.5 inches. Pin and sew the hems along the inner folded edges using a straight stitch.
Insert the Grommets
Arrange the sewn curtain panels so the opposite side of this header is confronting the panels are smooth.
Measure and mark a dot with a cloth marker on the opposite side of this header, 2.5 inches in from one of the side hems and 2 inches down from the upper edge of the curtain panel. Mark a dot in precisely the same place at another side border of the header. These dots indicate the positions of the centres of outermost grommets.
Measure the width across the header between both dots that are marked. Subtract 2 from the entire amount of grommets you have for every panel. Divide the width that you measured by the outcome. This provides you the spacing between the grommets.
Mark dots to indicate that the positioning of the grommets, using the spacing dimension you computed. All the dots should be 2 inches from the surface of the curtain panel.
Trace circles representing the centres of the grommets with the marked dots at their precise centers. Your grommet kit might have a stencil for this step. If not, use a measuring tape to cautiously draw circles matching the dimensions of the grommets’ interior holes.
Cut the centres of the marked circles outside, very carefully, using sharp scissors. Cut through all layers of this curtain header.
Attach the grommets into the holes after the instructions on the package. You will normally need to put the opposite side of one grommet at the front of the hole, then the matching back side of the grommet at the back of the hole, and then press both sides together till you hear a click. The raw edges of the holes cut in the cloth should be concealed within the grommets. Repeat this for all of the grommets.