My 1st (and probably last) DIY Drapery Panels

Have you ever wondered why you've only seen 2 walls of my bedroom? Because one of my walls looked like this....

I picked these black and gray zebra print panels out as one of my Christmas presents but I wasn't sure if they would work. I hadn't even bought a rod yet so I literally took push pins and pinned them around the windows because I LOATHE any kind of light coming in when I get to sleep in. I really just wanted to see if these would work and sadly, they never grew on me.

So I decided to take it upon myself to make my own! I mean, how hard could it be, right? Sew a couple pieces of fabric together and there ya go! Well, I wish I could tell you it was that easy....

Let's start from the beginning....the fabric. I was trying to figure out what kind of fabric I wanted. I didn't want solid white because I was afraid too much light would filter in. I didn't want black because with my black duvet, it would have been too much black. If I went with a pattern, it couldn't be a busy pattern because I didn't want it competing with the fabric on my headboard. I knew it had to be something big and bold and then it hit me. I needed a stripe fabric with large 8-10" stripes. So I got online and started hunting. I ended up on House Fabric and found exactly what I was looking for. They even had 2 options for me so I ordered samples of both to see which one I liked better. The one on the left is a cotton fabric and the other is a faux silk taffeta. Well, if I was going for "glam" I knew I needed to go with #2.

Besides it being a more luxurious fabric, there was one other teensy weensy difference....

Yes, it was $6 more (per yard) than the cotton fabric! Oh, did I mention that I needed 6 yards of fabric?? I wanted floor to ceiling panels and since my ceilings are 9 feet tall, I needed a lot of fabric. So I ordered it. But that's not all I had to get.

As I mentioned, I do not like any light whatsoever coming in my bedroom. None. Nada. Zip! So I also had to purchase black out lining. Hey, if I was going to do this, I was gonna do it right! So I stopped in this super cute fabric store in Shelbyville called Making Ends Meet and picked some up.....6 yards of it.

Here is where I usually tell you step by step how I made these panels. Well, it ain't gonna happen. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure how I made them. I got online and looked at a couple of different tutorials. I thought it would be so much easier until I started reading online. What have I gotten myself into? As I had all this fabric sprawled out on the floor, I asked myself "Why didn't I just pay someone to do this for me?" Oh yeah, because it was going to be sooooo easy. Well joke's on me! I have never in my life worked with so much fabric. A total of 12 yards....36 feet of fabric! And the black out lining is some heavy stuff!

I basically took a couple of steps from one tutorial, a couple more from another and a couple more from inside my head, which can be a catastrophe. So if you're reading this in hopes of learning how to make your own window panels, feel free to contact me and I'll do my best to help you figure it out and tell you what I would have done differently.

So let's fast forward 11 hours later to me putting the final hem on my panels..... Now is the time to hang them. I had a pretty good idea that my panels were not the same length but I thought I should hang them and cross that bridge when I get to it.

I have installed several drapery rods in my time. Yeah, I may have had a little bit of trouble getting the screws in the wall but this was just ridiculous! I drilled a hole in the wall, TRIED to put the anchor in the wall and it just wasn't having it! I could not, for the life of me, get the anchor, or even the screw for that matter, in the wall! Here is where my temper got the best of me.....Have I mentioned that I have temper? Well, I had a hammer in my hand and I was thisclose to pounding a hole in the drywall. So instead, I took the hammer and threw it on the ground. Little did I know it would bounce and do this to the drawer of my brand new night stand....

Oops. I really didn't think it would do THAT since I had already thrown a screw driver about 5 minutes earlier. That is when I decided that I needed to slooowly step off the ladder and call it a day.

A few days later at work, I was telling my co-workers about it (in the calmest manner possible) and one of them so kindly offered to help me. So one day he and his 3 foot tall side kick with dimples came over to take over where I unsuccessfully left off. While he was hard at work, his side kick demonstrated on my bed how high you can jump based on your energy level. (I believe he pronounced it as "engy" after being so out of breath from all the jumping.)

It took him no time to get them hung and my walls still had some battle wounds from my first attempt. But I probably won't bother patching it up until I move out because it's so high up, it's kinda hard to notice it.

As I had suspected, the length wasn't right so I needed to hem them. I know a lot of people puddle their window treatments, but I like a more clean, tailored look, especially with this print. Your panels should just graze the floor.

I pinned them while they were hanging so I could get them the perfect length. Then I took them down and headed back to my sewing machine. I gotta say, I'm pretty pleased.

I love the bold print with the busy pattern on my headboard!

Please excuse the unmade bed. As you can see, someone was in it and was not very happy that I was disturbing her mid-afternoon nap.