Drapes Too Short? 6 DIY Ideas To Lengthen Curtains ~ 3 are No Sew!
Are your drapes too short? Mine were! I considered these six DIY ideas to lengthen curtains before choosing my perfect, easy, budget option! It’s no sew and really frickin cool looking, if you ask me.
I actually made my drapes too short on purpose, sort of. Ed and I have been working around our main floor to upgrade the window trim. I’ve loved the bulkier trim in old houses for years, but wasn’t too motivated to change ours.
That’s is until we visited our friends’ Amanda and Kent’s century old lakehouse. It was then that I voiced my fandom of their window trim and Ed was like, let’s do it! We’ll share the details on that project soon (still some painting etc. needed first).
So, even though we upgraded our basic rod pocket curtains to be custom looking drapes, which added length, we moved our rod up even higher to accommodate the new window trim and to look even more elegant.
These Society6 Drapes were the perfect thing for us! They are a William Morris fabric that was blown up huge, which feels modern and fun.
My exact fabric is no longer available, but these are similar.
(Also adding to the todo list: repainting corner cabinet trim.🤦♀️)
6 Ideas To Lengthen Curtains
- Lower your curtain rod.
- This option is less than ideal. A low curtain rod is less dramatic and can make your window look smaller.
- Mind you, we lived with this option for years and somehow survived it. 😂
- Let down the bottom hem.
- Maybe your curtains have a generous hem at the bottom? If so, you could let it down.
- You would do this by:
- using a seam ripper to open the hem.
- iron the curtain smooth.
- pin up the new hem to the right length for you.
- sew with machine or by hem OR use hemming tape and iron it in place
- Doable but lots of steps, right? I didn’t consider this one for long.
- Add curtain rings.
- This I did and it worked so well! Adding the rings vs. the rod pocket added a few inches to their length.
- Here’s the simple, budget way I did that: How to Upgrade Basic Curtains ~ Custom Looking Drapes with No Sewing Machine Required!
- Swap in larger curtain rings or add to them.
- The bigger the curtain ring the lower the drapes will hang.
- I’ve also seen clever people use these fishing barrel swivels to add more length between their curtain ring and the drape itself.
- Add a complimentary fabric to the bottom and/or top
- With the right fabric this option would look wonderful! Contrasting, or color-blocked, fabrics would be dramatic. I’d advise not trying to match the original fabric exactly, that would be really hard to pull off well.
- This idea can be no sew with hemming tape.
- See the image below for inspiration:
And finally,
6. Add decorative trim to the bottom! This is what I did and here’s the tutorial…
The No Sew Way I Added Length to My Curtains with Trim
- Figure out how much length you need to add to your drapes.
- You want your curtains to kiss the floor, or puddle a bit if that’s your look.
- Find Your Perfect Trim.
- This can take some searching, or you can get incredibly lucky like I did. I found my perfect trim at the first discount fabric store I visited! (Lucky)
- AND the exact amount I needed was what was left on the roll. (Incredibly Lucky)
- AND it cost me less than $8! (Horseshoe-up-the-butt-level Lucky)
If you can’t find your perfect fringe locally – your next best bet is here on Etsy.
You can search by colour and size to narrow down your search. This is the closest match I could find for my fringe.
- This one would be great for a boho look.
- This one is 10 inches and leather – dramatic!
- This pom pom one would be so much fun.
- These green tassles are lovely.
- I love this colourful confetti one – but what room would it suit? Maybe a kid’s room?
How to:
Tools You’ll Need:
- Iron
- Ironing board
- Water in a spray bottle
- Pins
- Good scissors
- Needle and thread (if your trim frays when cut like mine)
Supplies:
- Enough fringe or trim to cover the width of your curtains. (This is the closest match I could find for my fringe.)
- Hemming Tape – heavy duty like this is best
First I laid the curtain on the ironing board and ironed the hem smooth.
Then I laid the fringe in place to get the length right. No measuring!
I just did a couple stitches to prevent that.
Here I pinned the trim in place to get the position just right.
I had to fiddle with it a bit and then it was good to go.
Ideally the hemming tape is completely covered by the trim.
The reason is, you will want to iron from the back, so you won’t be able to see if the trim has slipped.
More pins gives you more confidence.
I found it best to iron from the backside so that the heat melts the hemming tape directly. The trim is kind of thick to send enough heat through.
More heat equals more stickiness.
I used an old spray bottle filled with water to soak the curtain behind the hemming tape. The moisture will make steam to activate the glue.
You don’t want to risk melting or burning your materials.
I love this shot so much because you can not only see the length added to curtain, but also how much more finished and special the curtains look now. 😍
In the end it cost me less than $8 for four panels. I already had all the other supplies.
More of our Dining Room Projects:
- How to Upgrade Basic Curtains ~ Custom Looking Drapes with No Sewing Machine Required!
- How to Reupholster Dining Chairs – A Super Easy Beginner DIY Makeover Project!
- DIY Apothecary Cabinet Inspired Old Hutch Makeover (and where to find Apothecary Drawer Pulls!)
- Beautiful & Easy Faux Mercury Glass DIY Mirror Tutorial
- How to DIY Faux Board and Batten Paneling – the easy way!
Robin and Ed are a DIY-loving couple with over 25 years of design and build experience. Also, Robin is a Nutritionist and former Registered Dietitian and Ed is an award-winning Business Educator. We share strategies for living a rich life on a DIY budget: creative money-savvy ideas for a stylish home, healthy meals and family fun. Our work has been published in the pages of Do It Yourself, Farmhouse Style and Better Homes & Gardens magazines.
