When I was pregnant with Monica, the nesting instinct hit pretty hard. We decorated her nursery, cleaned, and washed all of her clothes ahead of time. I also made an adjustable crib skirt and sheets for the pack and play. This time around, I didn’t have as much time and energy to work on baby projects. While baby Alex’s room still needs more “boy” decorations, we’ve been able to make progress on Monica’s big girl room thanks to the help of my parents.
One all-important project was getting blackout curtains for her room. In the interim, we used these hidden tab top curtains I sewed a few years back. Unfortunately, they were too heavy for the room, didn’t block the light well, and most importantly, weren’t orange.
Inspired by these Pottery Barn Kids pom pom sheer curtain panels and these PBteen pom pom blackout drapes, I took matters into my own hands. I knew I didn’t have the bandwidth to sew custom curtains from scratch, but I certainly didn’t want to spend $59 and up for each panel. So I hacked a pair of IKEA Vivan curtains we had lying around.
I love that these curtains look light and airy, but block the light while Monica sleeps. And the pop of orange is fun for a toddler’s room.
Admittedly, these curtains might be considered “half done” since we only sewed the pom pom trim to one side of the curtain panel. After my mom was done trimming one side, we hung them up to see how they looked. And we never took them back down…oops! Maybe I’ll sew the trim on the other side of each panel, but obviously that can’t be during naptime or after Monica goes to bed!
DIY Blackout Pom Pom Curtains
Materials
- Pair of curtain panels
- I used white IKEA Vivan curtains
- Roc-Lon blackout fabric/curtain lining in white,
enough yardage to cover the length and width of your curtains
- This curtain lining is 54 inches wide, just about the width of my curtain panels
- Pom pom trim
- Joann’s sells this in a rainbow of colors. We picked orange to match her and :)
- Thread to match the color of your curtain panels
Tools
- Sewing machine
- Pins
- Scissors
- Iron
Instructions
Prewash, dry, and iron curtain panels.
Hem curtains, if needed.
Pin curtain lining to the top of the curtain panel, slightly overlapping the bottom of the tabs and rod pocket. The curtain lining I purchased has a white, softer fabric side and a slightly gray “rubbery” side. I pinned the lining so the white fabric side was facing the curtain panel and the rubbery side would be facing the wall.
Sew the curtain lining to the curtain panel, ideally along the same seam as the bottom of the rod pocket.
Pin the pom pom trim to the curtain panel, so just the poms are peeking out the side.
Sew the trim onto the curtain panel. If your curtain panel has a rod pocket you plan to use, you’ll want to hand stitch the trim onto that section of the panel to keep the pocket open.
Hang your curtains and enjoy a good night sleep or nap!
Cost Breakdown (before sales tax)
- Pair of IKEA Vivan curtain panels – $10
- 6 yards of blackout fabric/curtain lining – $24
- This was on sale at Joann’s for $5/yard plus an additional 20% off (usually $7/yard)
- The blackout fabric also available on fabric.com for $4.89 – $6.99/yard depending on sales
- 10 yards of pom pom trim – $16
- A 50% off coupon and additional 20% off my total purchase took the price from $4/yard down to $1.60/yard
- In reality I’ve only used 5 yards so far, so my real cost is only $8 so far
- Total cost before sales tax: $50
PS: Monica’s beloved “bear chair” is the from The Land of Nod.