How to Make Curtains without Sewing a Stitch

One of the best things about window treatments that don’t require any, or very little, sewing is that you can frequently change them because they’re so quick, easy, and inexpensive to make. If you’re a needlephobe, don’t even bother with the needle and thread. Instead, you can just glue your project together with a hot glue gun. Clips and clip rings, mini-clip rings, and safety pins make quick changes easy, and you don’t even have to sew a rod sleeve (that little pocket of fabric at the top of a treatment where you push the rod through).

Rings with clips

Rings with clips are an amazingly chic and ultra-easy way to hang curtains, draperies, and valances without all the fuss of sewing. They slip right over a rod and slide back and forth easily, attaching to your fabric with small clips that hang off the rings. These small to medium-size clips resemble the ones that children use to attach their mittens to their coat sleeves. Mini-clip rings are an even smaller version, appropriate for lightweight fabric treatments.

If you decide to use rings with clips, you need to match the strength and size of them to your fabric weight. Metal and wood rings are sturdier than plastic ones. You may also want to check out the tension of the clip and how much fabric you can sandwich in before purchasing. A mini-clip that can handle lace or eyelet may look adorable, but may not be able to handle a heavier-type fabric.

Clips are great to use when hanging curtains, draperies, and valences because they’re so adaptable. If you get bored with one style, you only need a few bucks and a little time to change them. Furthermore, cleaning the fabric is a breeze. Separating the clips from the fabric is easy when you’re ready to launder or make a seasonal window treatment change.

Make an effort to find curtain clips that complement your decor as well as the curtain or drapery. If your furniture finials or pulls are chrome, try to keep your clips and rings in the silver family. If the treatment fabric you choose is a modern one, look for a clean, unencumbered clip and ring style.

Safety pins

If all you want to do is make a rod sleeve at the top of your fabric so you can slide a curtain rod through it, medium to large safety pins are another way to avoid sewing. You only have to measure your fabric evenly across the top width, fold the top of the fabric down, pin it across the “line” where you would normally sew, and slide your rod through. Be sure to attach the safety pins to the back of the treatment so they don’t show.

Hot glue

Hot glue from a glue gun is great for adhering fabric to fabric. It sounds cheap and awful — ugh, gunky glue under a cute curtain fabric! — but the fact remains that hot glue and fabric are a match made in heaven. Because fabric is so porous, the glue bonds perfectly, and if you’re really careful with your application (not too much, not too little, look out for bumps), and you restrict the use of hot glue to underside areas that people can’t see, you can create a great hem or a smooth rod sleeve in a jiffy. And unless you have a particularly nosy significant other, friend, or in-law, nobody will ever know.

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