DIY Drop Cloth Curtains (No Sew with Step by Step Instruction)

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My friends, I am so excited to share our DIY drop cloth curtains with you today. These DIY curtains are easy, NO SEW, and incredibly budget-friendly. The great thing is that I even used curtain rings to make this EXTRA easy (let’s be honest I did that for myself). This tutorial is a great way for the non-sewer to create custom looking curtains.

If you’re here, you’ve probably been researching window treatments and searching curtains for your living room, bedroom, etc. You’ve quickly realized that a curtain panel is NOT cheap, especially if you want quality curtains and/or have tall ceilings. After coming to this realization, I started researching how to make curtains, and discovered that you most often need to have sewing abilities, of which I have (full disclosure) absolutely none.

HOWEVER, I am scrappy when it comes to finding another way. And I WILL find a way! So here we are with how I made high-end looking curtains out of $13 drop cloths, with absolutely ZERO sewing skills to speak of! No sewing machine required.

I’d also like to point out that drop cloth curtains do not HAVE to be farmhouse style. My curtains do not lean farmhouse, and actually just look like quality, linen curtains.

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Materials Needed:

Almost all can be purchased at Home Depot.

6×9 Drop Cloth (2) option 1 / option 2 (I used these!) – Using 2 6×9 drop cloths allows for no cutting or sewing!
Curtain Clips – I used almost the whole pack of 40
Iron & Ironing Board (We have this $10 iron from Walmart and it’s a great option!)
Glue Gun & Extra Glue Sticks – You can find these at Dollar Tree for $1 a piece
Measuring Tape / Ruler
Curtain Rod

I decided to use drop cloths because of the THICK fabric, the muted neutral color, the natural look of the cloth, AND the affordable price. The high-end curtain look that I love always involves thick linen-like fabric, so I knew cheap curtains from the store weren’t an option. These truly look like beautiful linen curtains once finished!

(2) 6×9 drop cloths cost a total of $26. That’s a STEAL for curtains of this quality!

Some have asked about using the drop cloth color against a similar wall color. You could absolutely do this, but there some GREAT tutorials out there for bleaching drop cloths as well.

How to Make No Sew Drop Cloth Curtains (10 Simple Steps):

1. Wash and dry drop cloths.

The first thing you’ll want to do is give these a good washing and then dry them. This is optional, but I think important. I actually didn’t do it, but I regretted not doing it because of all the little fuzzies that I think would have come off in the washing machine. So not necessary, but potentially helpful!

Some have asked about using the drop cloth color against a similar wall color. You could absolutely do this, but there some GREAT tutorials out there for bleaching drop cloths as well. So this would also be the time for that if you’d like a brighter curtain. My drop cloth curtains are set against Simply White by Benjamin Moore walls.

2. Iron drop cloths.

This is definitely a necessary step to make these look like nice curtains. I was thorough about this, as I didn’t want any wrinkles left in the fabric. And this fabric definitely comes with wrinkles! It’s lots of fabric, so it does take a little time. But worth it! Put on a good movie and don’t rush it 🙂

Pictured below is why you want your fabric wrinkle-free! It really makes the look.

3. Attach ring clips to curtain.

I did not want the clips to show (I think it looks a little more polished with just the rings), so I opted to clip these 1 inch from the top. This also gives the curtain more of a pinched pleat look. I spaced the clips 3 inches apart. So you’ll simply pinch the fabric 1 inch from the top and place a clip every 3 inches. You can space farther apart, but I found that they looked the best hung at this spacing. Again, I used these clips and I used almost all 40 that come in the pack.

Alternatively, you can simply clip your curtain clips to the top of the curtain and call it good! My personal preference is to not have the clip show, but this is absolutely just a preference.

For the ends, the first clip on each end should be about an inch in so that the clip doesn’t show. This is pictured below.

4. Hang curtains to test for how much length you’ll need to remove.

I wanted our curtains to just barely brush the floor. For this window that needs 96″ curtains, I needed to remove 6.25 inches from the fabric. This is an easy step but I dare say this is the hardest step. Just because you really want to make sure this is accurate, and checking by yourself while standing on a ladder is… not the easiest! So I highly recommend a second person to help with this project if possible!

5. Fold and pin the excess fabric.

I gathered the fabric and folded the ends to the right length so that the bottom of the curtain just barely touched the floor On the backside of the curtain, clip the fabric with either an an extra curtain clip, paperclip, or honestly – any kind of clip. Even a chip clip would do the trick for our purposes hehe 🙂

6. Measure the fabric you clipped and then fold the bottom of the curtain evenly all the way across.

Once you have clipped the fabric that needs to be removed, you’ll remove the curtain from the wall and lay it (backside up) on a flat surface. From there, you will measure the amount of fabric you clipped (in my case it was 6.25 inches), and then fold the fabric to match all the way across the bottom. Make sure to do this in a straight line. I eyeballed this and then afterwards checked that my measurements were correct for the bottom “hem” all the way down with measuring tape.

7. Superglue the excess fabric.

I glued along the inside hem – so at the top of the fold. Don’t go crazy with the glue. I moved quickly with the glue gun, applying a thin line all the way down in sections. This will hide the raw edges.

8. Double-check that your curtains are wrinkle-free.

As I said before, this step goes a long in making your drop cloths look like expensive curtains! I found that I had created a few wrinkles in putting the curtains up and taking them down, so I ironed one more time.

9. Hang curtains and adjust “pleats.”

I stood on a step-ladder and adjusted the fabric. I pinched the fabric to make the “pleats” more prominent and orderly. Making this part look neat and tidy helps to make your drop cloths really look like quality curtains with a fuller look.

You can see how I’m pinching the fabric together to make the pleats more prominent.

10. Step back and enjoy your new drop cloth curtains that look like a million bucks!

I sent a photo to a friend after hanging these and she told me that they look like Restoration Hardware. So I’ll happily take that, thank you very much! 🙂

*To note, these are not black out curtains. But they do a great job at filtering bright light well!

These no sew DIY drop cloth curtains are a one day project that will make a huge impact in your home! I’ve genuinely had friends think that these are brand new curtains from a store. So I hope this tutorial has been helpful for your own drop cloth curtains!

Until next time,