Hanky Curtains
Hankies are well known for their ability to transform or be transformed. Magicians can turn hankies to flowers or doves but you too can do your own transforming, from hankies to dainty curtains. Hanky curtains come in two styles, the most simple of which is a café curtain, a rather short curtain appropriate for kitchen windows and other short windows. With only 14 regular size hankies you can make a dainty café curtain for your kitchen window. Here’s how:
• Arrange 7 hankies in a row with their borders overlapping on top of a table. Hold the hankies together with pins. Arrange another set of 7 hankies in the same manner.
• Attach a hankie to the next with zigzag stitches. Secure two ends of the sewn 2 set of hankies together with pins. Again,sew the two sets of hankies together using zigzag stitches . You now have a “fabric” big enough for a café curtain to a regular size window.
• Make an opening or pocket for a curtain rod on the “hankie fabric” by folding the top of the “hankie fabric” around an inch and sewing along the border.
Another way to use hankies as curtains is as an accent to a readymade or store-bought plain curtain. Here’s how it is done:
• Buy readymade curtains that will fit the measurement of your window. Lay it down on a work table face up.
• Position the hankies on top of the store-bought curtains in the desired pattern or design or cover the entire store-bought curtain with the hankies if so desired.
• Once you have decided on the pattern or design, gently pin the hankies on the store-bought curtain in the exact position you so desired.
• Sew each hanky in place using a neutral color thread or a thread with a color that complement the colors of the hanky.
• Once all the hankies are sewn in place iron the curtains using a no-steam iron in a low setting.
Curtain Designs for Small Windows
Window treatment for small windows poses a big challenge to home owners and interior decorators. Without the proper window treatment, small windows can either be short windows or narrow windows. These small windows make the room look inelegant and awkward.
The best window treatment for small windows is one that will disguise its size and at the same time allow enough light to go through the window. One of the most popular and effective window treatments for small windows is curtain. There are many types of curtains as well as different ways to hang curtains that will disguise the size of small windows. Here are ways to hang curtains on small windows:
• Short windows
The best type of curtain for short windows are long sheer curtains such as voile that are hanging from a rod attached above the windows, just below the ceiling all the way to the floor. The sheerness of the material will allow the light to enter the room and the length will make the window look longer than they really are.
If the small window is located close to the middle of the wall and has an ornamental sill beneath it, the curtain should be hang, again, in a rod installed just below the ceiling but reaches only the sill. Another creative way to dress this small window is to hang a valance from the ceiling to the top of the window, then hang sheer curtains from there up to the sill. Your curtain will give the impression of length without covering the architectural detail.
• Narrow windows
For narrow windows, the best curtains for said problematic window are full-size curtain panels hanging from a curtain rod wider than the window. The panels can be tied back in the day time to make the entire window visible. Another way is to hang narrow panels on both sides of the small window.
The use of bold finials on the rods as well as big rings attaching the curtains to the rod will draw the attention from the narrowness of the windows to the decorative rod and rings.
