No More Free Shows Through the Kitchen Windows

My breakfast nook has four wonderful windows that let in a ton of sunlight, which I love. They also look straight into my neighbor's kitchen and one looks onto the street = free show for the neighborhood when I feed my cat or make breakfast in my underwear. Well, after two years, I decided the free shows are over. It's time to put up some curtains.

I found some adorable, simple cafe curtains on Etsy.com (shown below). They were white flour sack material with red rick rack trim (zig zag ribbon for all the laymen out there).

But at $40 a pair it was going to cost me $160 for all my windows. Mama wants to buy knee socks and tights for winter with that money, not curtains!

I figured I've got to be able to make these myself for a lot less.

I figured right!

AND - I could make them without sewing, which was key.

One, I don't have a sewing machine. Two, I took sewing in 8th grade, but I transfered in from a different school halfway through the semester. So while everyone else was ended the class by a skirt or other article of clothing, I only got as far as making a pillow. Granted, I probably don't need much more sewing skills than that to hem a curtain.

How to Make Cafe Curtains Without Sewing
What to Buy:

• 30in x 30in white flour sack kitchen towels. Target sells packs of 4 for about $3 each. I needed two packs for my windows. You could buy an extra pack to make coordinating hand towels if you want.
• Rick rack trim. This is at any fabric store and comes in a variety of sizes, colors, and lengths. I opted for large canary yellow and bought one 9 foot spool for $4.
• Fusable Tape. I bought a brand called Steam-A-Seam 2 in the the 1/4 inch size to work with my trim, about $3

Total supply cost for 8 curtains: ~$15 with tax.

Make the Curtains:
It's so easy, it's almost not worth explaining!

1. Iron the towels 
2. Lay out a strip of the fusable tape along the bottom edge of the towel (I placed mine two inches from the bottom)
3. Cut an equal length of rick rack and lay it on top of the tape 
4. Place the iron over the trim for 10 seconds to fuse the tape to the ribbon and towel
5. Done

It took about half an hour to make 8 and cost me more to buy the hardware than to make the curtains (3 cafe rods and 5 packs of clip rings, also from Target, about $5 per rod and $4.50 per pack of 7 rings).

The Final Product:
It's pretty rewarding to make things, which I don't do often, and even if it was super easy.