Anthropologie-inspired ruffled window curtains.

I came across these curtains totally by accident. If I recall correctly, I was browsing pinterest for something totally unrelated, and then these beautiful ruffly curtains appeared in the sea of images. I was instantly in love! I adore ruffles on just about anything so when I saw these, I HAD to have them! Seeing as how they are from Anthropologie (product name is "wandering pleats curtain"), I figured they'd cost a pretty penny but when I saw the actual price ($148 USD for the smallest size panel!!!!) there was no question about it - I'd be making my own version!

The curtains are pretty straight forward; a plain rectangular panel with two thick ruffles running down each panel.

https://www.anthropologie.com/shop/wandering-pleats-curtain

So simple, right? But so ingenious! And that's exactly how I sewed them.

I started with a rectangular panel cut to size with an additional 5.5" for a hemline and 4.5" to make a "tunnel" for the curtain rod at the top. For the curtain panel itself I selected a white semi-translucent fabric. It was more opaque than a typical sheer curtain fabric but not entirely solid. It also had a very apparent horizontal woving pattern that gave the fabric a very organic texture/feel. I hemmed each panel but left the top unfinished. For the ruffles, I used plain white solid cotton fabric. I cut the cotton fabric into 7" strips and sewed them together end-to-end to make one super long strip. The anthropologie curtains had raw edges on the ruffles, but the cotton fabric I chose frayed easily and I knew that I'd forever be picking up loose threads off the floor if I left the edges unfinished. Because that would eventually drive me crazy (and I preferred the neater look of finished edges on the ruffles), I serged them using a loose stitch on my overlock machine. Then, I divided the super long strip into eight equal sections (I was making four curtain panels with two ruffles on each panel) where each section was about three times the length of the curtain panel. The next step was to make and attach the ruffles to the curtain panels. To do this, I laid down the panels flat on the floor and using a fabric marker with disappearing ink, I drew lines on the panels at about 1/3 and 2/3 of the way across the panel. This is where I would attach the ruffles. Then, I measured the panel length and made marks 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 of the way down the panel length.

Next, I folded each cotton fabric strip in half and marked on the fold. Then, folded again and marked on the new fold, so that when I unfolded the strips, there were 3 marks; one at 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 of the way down the length of the strip. 

Finally, it was time to make and attach the ruffles to the curtain panels and for efficiency's sake I did both at the same time (apologies for the lack of progress photos - I became so absorbed into sewing that I totally forgot to take pictures!). To help me distribute the length of the cotton strip down the curtain panel evenly, I used the marks I had made on the curtains and the strips. Starting with one end of the strip, I pinned it to the top of the curtain panel, then matched the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 marks, and finally pinned the end of the strip to the bottom edge of the hemmed panel. Then, I pinned the excess fabric in between the marks by making approximately 1/2" folds to create the ruffle. Once the entire cotton strip was pinned down and I was satisfied with the way the ruffle looked (evenly full down the entire curtain panel) I sewed it down using a straight stitch. Finally, I hemmed the top of the curtain to create a "tunnel" into which the curtain rod could be inserted. I repeated the process for the remaining curtains and before I knew it, I was done!

The curtains turned out amazingly and I had the perfect place to hang them! I was just finishing up decorating one of our guest bedrooms and one of the last things left to do was to hang some sort of window treatments. The two windows in this room are rather narrow so hung across the entire wall, the curtains would visually enlarge them. Not only that, but as with any curtain, they really dressed up the room, made it feel comfortable and inviting.