TIERED RUFFLED VALANCE

I have been working hard on the bedroom make-over of my 10-year old girl. The make-over is long overdue and she certainly deserved it!!

I tossed back and forth between a full floor-length curtains and a valance. Taking into consideration that the room is small - at a mere 2 by 3 metres and we have an existing vinyl roller blind, I opted for the latter.

This valance  is inspired by this Pottery Barn Kids Ruffle Blackout Panel selling at over NZD120. I wanted to create a whimsical and colourful room for her, so instead of opting for a single colour I went over the top with contrasting colours and pattern. 

The valance is designed to have a curtain rod threaded  through a 2-inch flat casing. I have yet to get the curtain rod, for now they are temporarily mounted with push pins. 

To get a fuller gather of the ruffles, each piece is cut twice the length of the window. To make the ruffle, I adjusted my Brother BM-2600 sewing machine tension to No.1 and increase the length of the stitch to the max, No.4. Then with a straight stitch, I made two rows of stitches 1/2" apart at the top of the ruffle pieces. Then pull to gather to the required length.

The ruffle is then stitched to the backing material, in this case I am using the same material with the ruffle to give a more continuous look, before they are joined with the other ruffled pieces.

This tutorial  at sew4home.com is very useful on tips, tricks and general ideas on working with ruffles.

Again, the fabric rose making another appearance here to give it a special effect, or in my case to cover the imperfections in the curtain!

My girl is very happy with the results, and that's all that matters to me!