Budget Friendly Custom Length Draperies

When we moved into this house I knew I wanted to hang curtains from the tall windows. I started shopping around and priced fabric. While I could have sewn the panels, fabric by the yard adds up quickly when you are talking about hanging curtains from 10 feet up to the floor times 8 panels. (I hung 4 in my kitchen and 4 in the family room).

On a shopping trip to Ikea I came across the Henny Rand curtains and instantly liked them (which is rare for me.) More like myself, I walked away thinking I would find something else I liked better. Well weeks went by and I kept thinking about the curtains...I know, who thinks about curtains? Well, this lady does! Now I had to figure out how to make them work. Ikea tends to carry curtains longer than most store brands (96 inches) but my tallest window was over 10 ft tall. I would need at least two more feet on the tallest curtains in the family room and the kitchen panels would also need some added length. So when I headed back to Ikea to purchase the curtains, I also picked up the Lenda curtains to add to the bottom of each curtain panel and rods, mounting hardware, and finials while I was at it.

One of the best things about the curtains is the price. Here is a breakdown of what I spent to put up 8 tall panels (curtains and rods):
-4 sets of Henny Rand curtains at $35 each = $140
-1 set of Lenda curtains at $35
-4 rods = 2.99 each= 11.96
-Mounting Hardware 1.49 each x 11=16.39
-6 finials at 4.99 for 2 = 14.97
-4 cans of Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint - I can't remember how much I paid but around $6 a can = $24

Total = 242.32

This may seem like a lot, but considering I spent $50 dollars alone on one window curtain rod in my last house, I felt that 43.32 for all the rods and hardware was pretty good. This covered two large kitchen windows plus my large wall of windows (18 ft across). **Side note- on the wall of windows, the curtain rod is actually two rods, resting together on the center piece of mounting hardware to make it look like one continuous rod.** Add the $24 I spent for spray paint and I still think it was well worth it. The rods come in a cream or silver color, so if that works well in your house, you can spend less than I did. I also originally tried to use other finials (I don't love the Ikea ones) and those were $15 a pair...but in true Ikea form, only Ikea finials fit into their rods :)  And had I purchased fabric to make this I would have spent way more...even with coupons and cheaper fabric.

Here is how I made the curtains long enough.

 First I measured to see how much length needed to be added. I cut out that length, plus a few inches extra for hemming by the width of the curtain. Once again, as Ikea never disappoints in these things...the curtains were not the same width...just a tad off. Enough to have to correct it, ugh! So, I also ripped out the side seams once I had the length cut. I pressed it flat and laid it on top of my main panel, right sides together. I matched up the side seams and refolded the seam to fit. I quickly stitched the side seam, pressed, then laid it back on top of the main panel and pinned it together. I then stitched it on using a narrow seam allowance since I was not finishing off the back of the curtain with anything that would hide the seam.

Once I stitched it on, I left the curtains un-hemmed. I wanted to make sure they were long enough so I pinned them while they were hanging just to be extra careful. Once I had the length marked, I took them down, pressed up the hem and stitched. And that was it...not much work for extra long curtains! 

Shannon