I received this beautiful pink see-through day curtain material the other day. It was a perfect match with my pink bedsheet and the pink decorative pillow that I had been given by a girl moving out of the housing complex. I knew it would be a great complimentary item to my room.
There was this one problem, though. I only had one curtain rail with thick night curtains on it already. I was also lacking a sewing machine to properly sew the edges of the new curtain.
I decided not to let those little things stop me from hanging up the curtains. I am a maker after all and a great improviser.
I would love to share with you how I hung up the curtains in case you ever find yourself in a situation where:
- You do not have the “right” tools to hang up curtains
- You live in a rental apartment where you are not allowed to make any alterations (e.g. drilling holes)
- You have a long piece of cloth which you do not want to cut up in case you move to a new place where windows are a different size.
How to hang up curtains the way Eva does it
STEP 1. Realise you do not have a second curtain rail, nor a sewing machine, nor curtain rings or anything that is commonly used for hanging curtains.
STEP 2. Loosen the existing curtain rail by partially unscrewing it at the connection joints.
STEP 3. Do not thread a string through in a way that would obstruct the sliding of existing curtains on said rail. What are you, stupid? Who would do that? Definitely not me. I definitely would not tie five bows before realising that this is idiocy. No way. Not me.
STEP 4. Instead, thread the string at connection joints behind the curtain rail. The closer to the wall the better because then they will not get in the way of the thick curtains.
STEP 5. Tie a knot. Create a loop.
STEP 6. Put a clothes hanger through the loop. Throw the curtains over the hangers. If you have an extra-long piece that you do not want to cut up, braid it around several hangers. Use your imagination here. Look out for symmetry if that is important to you. You can start from the middle or either side, but I had my curtains already hanging on four clothes hangers from drying them, so I just played around with that. I also had to undo two hangers partially because it was not symmetric and I was highly disturbed by that fact.
STEP 7. Realise that the curtain material is slippery and does not want to stay on the hangers. Secure it with paperclips bent out of shape. If the fabric allows, try pushing the weave apart a bit to create holes to push the paperclip through. Mine had holes from an old hem, so I was able to use those.
Start by securing the parts towards the edges of the hanger first. Do not try to chase perfection here. Unless you use a hundred paper clips, if you have a slippery fabric, you will not get a perfectly lined bottom edge. That is not what this tutorial is about. This is the quick and dirty method. For a perfectly lined bottom edge, consider using actual curtain clips attached to rings or hooks instead. But, again, this guide is for when you do not have any of those things commonly used to hang curtains.
STEP 8. Add more paperclips to the middle of the panel for extra support. This will help with the sagging and uneven end. Make sure to pull the fabric up to make it more or less level with the sides before putting on the clip. Twist the clip around the hanger and weave the ends to secure it in place. Hide all paperclips under curtain folds.
STEP 9. Create a fancy-pancy middle pull-up by using a pushpin and curtain folds wrapped around it. Use a paperclip for securing everything in place. Hide the pushpin and the clip under a fold.
STEP 10. Take a step back to admire your work and the sunset matching the colours of your new curtains and linen.
STEP 11. (Optional, but highly recommended.) Enjoy a yoghurt bowl with mango, strawberries, oatmeal, nuts, seeds, and lots of love.
