Remember way back when, I mentioned my genius idea to transform some tableclothes into curtains? Ta-Da!
We had been searching for a long, long time for affordable curtains for the living room. After we decided no one made curtains we both liked for under $100 (per panel!) we started searching for fabric to make said curtains (notably, these curtains cover french doors with large windows on each side, so it was going to take a lot of panels or a lot of fabric, either way). And we searched for a long, long time.
Having given up finding fabric that we both liked, we finally returned to a curtain search (thinking, surely by now someone makes an affordable curtain we both like). And we found ourselves at Target, looking through curtains. Stumped. Until I remembered seeing this tablecloth that I loved.
And I thought the dimension were good (60x84), the fabric was good, why not turn said tablecloth into curtains? And so we did. The tablecloth was nice and wide, so we only needed four to cover the doors . We hang almost all of our curtains on the ring-hook things, so I didn't even need to sew a pocket along the top. Of course, if you're not a fan of the rings, you could sew a quick little rod pocket at the top--there's plenty of extra length for that.
The tablecloth itself was pretty long at 84 inches, which is usually about the length of a standard curtain panel. We probably could have hung them as they were, but they were pretty flimsy looking when we did a test-hang. In any event, we usually like to hang our curtains pretty high, so I went to the fabric store and purchased some decorator fabric in a matching rust-color to add a band at the bottom. It's a microsuede, so it also adds a little texture to the curtains (which are just a lightweight cotton).
I cut an 11 inch band for the bottom, so once it was sewn on and hemmed, it ended up adding about ten inches to the curtains. The heavier decorator fabric also added some extra weight, which helps the curtains hang well. This picture may not show it well, but I used the contrasting rust-colored thread for top stitching along the tablecloth, for a decorative element. We folded them over at the top before attaching to the hooks, at made sure to line up the bottom band so they'd always look nice and even. (The hooks are great for curtains like these that are going to be opened and closed a lot.)
Depending on where you're using the curtains, you may want to line them. These are pretty thin, almost a muslin feel to them, so the sun would probably shine right through. However, we use them to cover a french door that leads into a courtyard, so during the day the curtains are always open. At night, they do a perfectly fine job of giving us all the privacy we need.
Not a bad life for a $13 Target tablecloth.