Easy No-Sew DIY Curtains with Pleats

Back when I painted the walls in the nursery white-ish, I knew I was going to pull in a lot of pink accents through bedding, curtains, and pictures. But first I had to figure out which shade of pink!

And that’s when I was at IKEA in Atlanta and found this for $10…(insert hearts for eyes emoji here)

So from there my search for the perfect curtains to match commenced. I searched high and low, near and far, but could only find one curtain that fit the bill. And it was SOLD OUT! (It was from Target’s Simply Shabby Chic line for those interested.)

Since I have minor sewing skills, I started to look for flat bed sheets in that perfect shade of pale pink, that I now craved, to make my own curtains.

Enter Tuesday Morning!

Of course I had to by the whole set to get the flat sheet I needed. But at $20 each, it was only $80 for 4 curtain panels. Plus I think I have an idea to use 2-3 of the fitted sheets for another project. And we jokingly refer to our tiny house as “Wolf Manor”, so the brand of the sheets was perfect too!

At first I was thinking I’d keep the width of the sheet but still have to hem the bottom. But then my mom came over and held the curtains right under the crown molding trim.

And they looked perfect, with just a slight puddle on the floor.

So then Brandon and I got to work mounting the hardware as close to the crown as possible. I wanted the curtain rods to be as wide as they’d go so the curtains wouldn’t cover our beautiful window trim completely.

Unfortunately that left them with a little dip in the middle.

And since these were rods I ordered online and have had for a while, I couldn’t just run to the store and buy extra brackets (that matched) for the middle.

But we did have some dowel rods leftover from building the closet door caddy!

We put the largest one that would fit inside the rod.

Then hung it back up and it made a big difference!

I wasn’t too concerned about the rod being flimsy since the curtains won’t be opened and closed. They’re purely decorative.

With the rods and dowels in place, it was time to hang the sheets, I mean “curtains”. After washing and drying them, I gave them a good ironing. I brought out the heavy starch to use on the top 8 or so inches of each panel. Then I got out the simple curtain rings I found at Wal-Mart.

They come 7 in a pack for $4.74. I used 10 for each panel, so I needed 6 packs. (Also I got the nickel finish even though it clashes with the gold ceiling since my next trick will keep them from being seen.)

Instead of clipping them at the top of the panel, I decided to clip them from the back at the seam that all sheets have at the top.

Once all of the rings/hooks/clips were in place (and with a little fluffing), the sheet curtains had an elegant, pleated look at the top.

And the room is now a lot more PINK!

They are exactly what I envisioned for the room and I’m so glad to have another thing checked off the nursery to-do list.

You may have noticed that the giraffe is a little shorter than the after picture from making the pom pom ceiling mobile. She is a recent purchase since I was reluctant to give up my giraffe (Bernard) from the sunroom. We assume she is Bernard’s sister, so her name is Betty.

Also the poor pom poms took a beating while hanging the curtain rods…by Brandon’s head.

I still need to re-fluff them. And forgive him. And poor Baby Girl Wolf is still without a mattress. I’m holding out for a really big sale on crib mattresses. That’s a thing, right? I’m sure she’ll have plenty of arms to hold her until her ~~parents~~ mom stops worrying about curtains and lamp shades and buys her a mattress.

If you follow me on Instagram (@chelsealipfordwolf) then you probably saw the sneak peek of my next project, a nursery gallery wall! I’m so excited about how it turned out and can’t wait to share with you soon. Until then here’s a preview of what my mom helped me put together.