- 1). Install the dowel. Cut a 3-inch diameter dowel the length of the room. Paint or stain the dowel to match your decor and let dry for several hours. While the pain dries, install the dowel hangers. Dowel hangers consist of a ring with a plastic back that one end of the dowel slides into. The other piece is a half-circle with a plastic back that the dowel slips into. Measure down the wall 5 inches from the ceiling at each end of where the dowel will hang. Screw the dowel holders in place, making sure to have the opening on the half-circle holder facing the ceiling.
- 2). Create the curtains. Before you begin, decide if you'll hang the curtain on the dowel with cafe rings, which makes the curtains easier to open, or with a channel that the dowel will slide through, which creates a curtain with no gaps at the top. Also decide whether or not you want the curtain to fall into folds or hang straight across. Measure the height from the dowel to the floor and the width from wall to wall. Your design decisions play into how much fabric you need. Add 50 percent to the width if you want folds. Add 5 inches to the top and 3 inches to the bottom for hems.
- 3). Sew the top hems of the curtains. To make the hems, iron a quarter inch fold at the top of the fabric and then fold the ironed edge over to make a channel that's just under 5 inches wide. Iron the fold and use straight pins to hold it in place. If you're using cafe rings, reduce the channel to 2 inches in depth. Sew across the top of the curtain where you used the straight pins. If the edges of the fabric that will rest against the walls are unfinished, sew narrow hems in them.
- 4). Hang the curtains by sliding the dowel through the channel or by sliding the cafe rings over the dowel and attaching the curtain. Insert one end of the painted dowel into the dowel holder that's a complete circle and slip the other end into the opposite dowel holder. Use straight pins to mark where the bottom hem should be. Take the curtains off the dowel and make the bottom hem the same way you made the top hem.
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