How to shorten curtains

...and survive the attempt 😂

Haha, I am kidding, it is not that dangerous for our lives, maybe only for the life of the curtain.

After these actions, you appreciate different professions much more, such as interior designers, tailors, bricklayers (which we are waiting for right now...) etc. Wouldn't it have been easier to find a person who could make me custom curtains, shorten them nicely, install them and I could just enjoy it? Sure. On the other hand, when you do something yourself, you value it more because of the work and effort you put into learning and doing a certain job. No matter how banal it may seem.

Let's be realistic. This seems so dumb and easy after some DIY activities we have done around our new place (like converting existing furniture into something else that suits us, which involved disassembling, drilling, cutting, assembling, etc.), and yet, I've been at this shortening-the-curtains job since Saturday! Almost four days? Omg, I thought I would do this much faster, and you will see for yourself how easy it was, but still, it took some time.

So, should we get started with the story then? The title would be... how NOT to shorten curtains hahaha. That's also useful, right, because if you decide to replace your curtains and shorten them then you will know what not to do. First of all, I bought curtains that were too long. (note to yourself - buy the size you need!) I saw some living room curtains on sale in JYSK that I liked. They were 50% cheaper than usual, and I needed 5 of these curtains (three for the curtain rod above the balcony door and two for the curtain rod above the window where I put the dining table.) I saved a lot of money, that's true because curtains are not cheap at all, but with these discounts, I was more than tempted to replace them. There used to be yellowish and thicker curtains there in the living room but I like the sunlight to come in. White, that would open up the space so I decided on them, although I realized at first glance that the quality of these new ones was not the same as the quality of the old ones... It doesn't matter, they are still white curtains and I like them now. :)

When I bought them, I put them on the curtain rod to try them on without shortening them. It was funny because they were 3-meter-long curtains, so a lot of material was dragging on the floor. It took me a week or two to start shortening them. (note to yourself - don't procrastinate as I)

First I took them off.

A temporary death for my curtains 🤣

Ok, the curtains came down from their place and I set off on an adventure to measure them on the dining table. There were a few mistakes. First, the tape measure I used was not a tailor's tape measure but a rigid one used for all other crafts around the house. Later I found a tailor's tape measure and that was much better. I measured 64 cm from the bottom because I would have liked to shorten them so much. At least that's what I thought.

The material constantly slipped out of my hands so measuring and inserting pins to mark took... well, it took a while, hahaha. Then I climbed the ladder again and tried it - too short! It was ridiculous so I took off both the curtain and the pins.

And then - the revelation!! Shouldn't I have washed the curtains first because what if they shrink in the meantime and they've already been cut? (note to yourself - yes, you should wash them before shortening them)

A day was lost there because of it. The machine washed the curtains quickly but they didn't dry until the next day.

Fast forward! On Sunday I played this measuring game again and folded & marked the curtains at 53 cm from the bottom. When I tried them on the curtain rod it seemed too long so I took out the pins once again. I gave up that day, so the work continued the next day.

Monday - finally, I got the right length, well, I think it was ok to mark them at 58cm from the bottom. However, just today - Tuesday, I had enough time to measure all of them, fold, mark and call a little helper.

Miss Clarisse! 😎

I know this hot lady was neglected by me over many years, but she didn't mind coming today here and having fun with the curtains. 😁

So, the instructions in the curtain packages explained - you measure the curtain, fold, iron, use the little tape that is inside the small plastic bags, iron over it again, cut the parts you don't need and voila. Very, very easy. (note to yourself - don't get be fooled; it was more complicated to get the right length and mark it well than it seems...)

When I was already at that part of ironing over the folded curtain and with the tape inside, everything became less stressful. I stopped trying to do it perfectly and in the end, it was fun indeed.

Proof that my husband also helped in this curtain-shortening action. He's better with scissors, no wonder, his grandparents were tailors. 😇

The final results are something like this. The curtains allow the sun to come in, which I like. When there is too much sun, I can lower the blinds a little, as I have done here. The length - they are almost 60 cm shorter than when I bought them (I wonder, is there anyone who needs 3 metre long curtains? Maybe for a castle with high ceilings? Could be. 🤷‍♀)

The window behind the dining table is adorned with two curtains; it is enough as it is smaller than the balcony door. Now when I see it, it seems that I could shorten them a bit more, those for the window... But at the moment they will stay as they are right now, until Miss Clarisse is bored and wants to help me again in this task.