Homemaker's Journal: Grateful Living Series: Dress Up M.H. Windows

Monday, September 12, 2011

Grateful Living Series: Dress Up M.H. Windows

So long as there are homes to which men turn At close of the day:

So long as there are homes where children are, Where women stay--

If love and loyalty and faith be found Across those sills--

A stricken nation can recover from Its gravest ills.
~Grace Noll Crowell

My window sills are the most annoying thing to me about living in a mobile home. Apparently they put something that looks like storm windows on the INSIDE of the window. They are so ugly! They are such an eyesore! About six years ago, my solution was to sew curtains that would basically hide the window frame. I put plantation blinds up first. I needed blinds because mobile homes are not very well insulated and in extremely hot weather, plantation blinds block a lot of heat. They also hide the top of my ugly storm windows. The sides are hid by my simple curtains which also double as more sun-blockage (or cold-blockage in the winter). Here are the instructions for the curtains from Crafting Vintage Style, by Christina Strutt (ISBN 1588162419).

Materials

For the curtain: panel of fabric measuring the width of the window plus 6 inches by the required length plus 4 inches

For the facing strip: strip of fabric the width of fabric the width of the window by 3 inches

For the tabs: strips of fabric measuring 12 x 6 inches

Tape measure

Scissors

Pins

Needle and matching thread

1. Fold over a 1-inch double hem along both sides of the curtain fabric and stitch. Hem the top and bottom edges in this way.

2. Next, make the tabs. Fold each strip of fabric in half lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch along the raw long side. Turn right side out and press, centering the seam on the back.

3. Zigzag-stitch one long edge of the facing strip. Place the facing strip on top of the curtain right sides together. Fold each tab in half widthwise with the seam sides together. Pin one tab flush with the right and left edges. Pin the rest of the tabs at 6-inch intervals between the curtain and the facing strip, right sides together and edges aligned.

4. Stitch along the top edge of the curtain, catching in both ends of each tab as you go, and along the short ends of the facing strip. Turn right sides out so that the facing is on the wrong side of the curtain and press.