How to Make a Valance

Making a valance is easy! It doesn’t involve much sewing it won’t take up your time and best of all, the end result is stunning. Valances give a certain finesse to curtains. They are the cherry on top and if you have some leftover fabric that you would like to use, this is the best way to make use of it.

What you Need

There are really only a few basic items you will need to make a valence. They are:

• Fabric
• A tape measure
• A sewing machine or some glue
• Thread

And that’s it!

Getting Started

1. The very first thing you need to do, is measure your window width. . Then measure the width of your curtain pole or track to determine how wide you want your valance to be.

2. Get hold of your fabric and lay it out flat . Either on a table or on a hard flooring surface. Now you will need to measure out your desired width. In basic terms, if you want a straight valance, without any gathering, your valance needs to be as wide as the distance between the outer edge of your curtains. For a gathered look, you are going to need at least two times that width. Whichever look you are going for, always add an extra two inches to the total width – this is for the hems.

3. Now think about the length of the fabric. Most valances are at least 8 – 10 inches deep, any less than that and it looks a little thin. You will need to bear in mind that the fabric will be folded so the actual depth measurement needs to be doubled and again, add an extra 2 inches to the total for the hems.

4. Once you have cut your fabric into the desired shape, start pinning your hems down the length of the material and secure them. You can either sew them or you can cheat and use fabric glue to secure the fabric together – whatever your preference.Now turn the fabric over – the hemmed sides should now be facing the floor. Fold the bottom of your fabric up in half and measure a one inch hem at the top, stitching or gluing this in place.

   

5. Flip your fabric so that the hems are now facing the floor. Now you have to prepare to fit the curtain pole in the valance. Now here we are assuming that you are just doing a straight valance.Measure about 2 inches from the hem stitch or glue. This should be enough space to fit a standard curtain pole but of course, adapt accordingly to accommodate yours.

   

6. Now pin or mark the fabric and start sewing or glueing the fabric so that you are creating a hole for the pole to live in.

7. When you have finished, slide the pole in. It should slide in quite easily and if you are having to force it through, unpick your stitches and start again!

   

8. The final step is hanging the valance. You might want to iron the fabric before you do this to create a clean, fresh look. Simply place the pole above your window and sit back to admire your handy skills!

Recap

Making a valance is really not that challenging. The fact that you can bypass sewing completely makes it almost foolproof. The secret of success is getting the measurements right. Do that and you simply cannot go wrong!