Shortening Curtains Without Sewing

Now that the central heating is installed I find that all the curtains (or drapes for those in the U.S.) are overhanging the radiators which would restrict the heat reaching the rest of the room. Without access to a sewing machine I decided to use hemming tape, there are various makes but the one pictured below is the one I used.

 

Here you can see the before and after shortening on a set of curtains and for those who would like to do the same I’ll give a guide how to do it.

The first picture shows the rear corner of the curtain before unpicking the lining,some curtains have none so this part won’t apply.

Take a sharp knife and unpick the backing to just beyond the point where the curtain will be turned up for the hem. In my case I had to shorten the curtain by 57cm so unpicked the lining by 58cm.

Now I had to mark the curtain with a straight edge and chinagraph marker measuring from the bottom 51cm to allow a turn up hem to the correct length.

Now cut along the line.

Turn up the hem to the correct position.The picture below shows the hemming tape in position on the corner.

Now with a hot iron and damp cloth press down and hold in position for about 30 seconds.

Being careful to keep the correct measurement for the hem…

Place the tape underneath the turn-up at the cut edge.

Now with the iron and damp cloth press down in steps along the hem for approx 30 seconds each time. Do not use an ironing action as the heat won’t transfer very well.

Now you have a completed hem you can measure and cut the length of the backing material. I used a biro which shows up on the white material.

 

And cut the lining to length

Here you can see the completed corner after shortening.

I made the curtains length so that it would end at the top of the radiator

And rest on the window shelf which allows the heat to rise without interfering with the curtain.

So there you have it, a good job done without stitching and easy to do.

I hope this has been of help to those who think it’s too difficult to do without a sewing machine.

If I can do it so can you.