While my roomies were gone to New York (read: stranded in New York with no car!) I needed a little distraction from all the crazy and stress going on. I saw the cutest window dressing on Pinterest. It was a valance made with strips of fabric. Adorable! I absolutely loved the idea, so I HAD to make one of my own. I piled up strips of fabric from various parts of my (considerable) stash, some cut into strips, some ripped. Now I did look over a couple of tutorials (shared at the bottom) but it can be really simple to do.
1. Collect your strips of fabric – rip them for rough edges or cute into strips for smooth edges (I made mine various lengths to make it a little more fun and wild)
2. Measure your ribbon against the width of your window and cut it, leaving considerable extra on the sides for tying it up.
3. Fold it so you find the middle and start knotting your strips onto the ribbon. One to mark the middle, then alternate one on each side until you reach the desired width for your window. You can also use rope or something like that instead of the ribbon, if you’re going for a more natural, rustic look.
4. Put up nails on either side of the window where you want the valance to hang and tie the ends in a knot to slip over the nail.
*You can also knot the strips over a curtain rod and it looks very cute but I could not for the life of me get the curtain rod hangers to go into the wall on either side of my window! lol *
Once I had my valance hanging, I added in some extra lengths of yarn with beads and baubles strung on them for extra charm. I also tied in some bits of lace and gift wrap ribbon for extra textures.
This is my finished valance:
I’m especially happy with my valance because a lot of the scrap fabrics are from sentimental projects – a pillow my grandmother made me, a sun dress and skirt that I made in high school, one of my dad’s shirts, a shirt I made myself recently for prom.
It’s definitely brightened up my work space.
What could you do today to bring a little more fun into your craft space?
~Seth
If you want more proper tutorials than my simple one – with pictures even – these are the two that I looked over before I made my valance:
Fiveoritethings: Vintage Scrap Fabric Valance (No Sew!)
Abby’s Tutu Factory: How To: Tutu Valance and Scrap fabric Curtain
Happy Nakama 