How To Sew A Shower Curtain

Making your own shower curtains is simple and easy. All you’ll need is fabric, matching thread, a sewing machine, and either a grommet kit or a buttonhole foot for the sewing machine.

You can use any fabric you would use for window curtains to make a shower curtain. It doesn’t have to be waterproof fabric since you can add a vinyl shower curtain liner when you hang the curtain in your bathroom.

Measure and Cut Fabric

Standard shower curtains measure 72 inches square, so that’s the measurements we’ll be using in this article. If you want to make a different size curtain, take the finished measurements and add 8 inches to the height and 4 inches to the width for hems. You’ll also need to add an extra 1/2 inch to the width for a center seam if you’re joining fabric panels.

1. Cut fabric into 80-inch lengths. If you’re using a patterned fabric, cut so the patterns match at the center seam.
2. Place rights sides of the fabric together, matching patterns if applicable, and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the selvage edge to join the two pieces of fabric.
3. Cut the same amount off each side of the joined fabric panel so it measures 76 inches wide.

Sew Hems

We’re going to use a simple turned hem technique to finish the edges of the shower curtain. You can iron the seams as you fold them to help keep the hem smooth and even, but this is not strictly necessary.

1. For the side seams, turn the fabric edges under 1 inch, then turn again and pin. Sew on the wrong side of the fabric along the inside fold.
2. Hem the bottom seam exactly the same way you did the side seams.
3. For the top seam, turn the fabric edges under 3 inches, then turn again and pin. Sew on the wrong side of the fabric along the inside fold.

Hanging Curtains

You can hang DIY shower curtains using the same hooks you’d use for purchased shower curtains. There are two main ways to do with – with button holes and with grommets.

Buttonholes

1. Mark the location for 12 evenly spaced 1/2-inch button holes across the top hem of your fabric.
2. Using a buttonhole foot on your sewing machine, stitch your button holes.
3. Open the button holes using a seam ripper or a buttonhole cutter.

Grommets

1. Mark the location for 12 evenly spaced 1/2-inch grommets by placing the grommet on the fabric and tracing the center of the grommet.
2. Cut a small X in the center of the circle marked for each grommet. Do not cut all the way to the edge of the traced circle.
3. Push the “male” side of the grommet through the cut X, starting from the right side of the fabric.
4. Place the “female” side of the grommet over the part of the grommet that’s poking through the hole.
5. Use the tool that came with the grommet kit to seal the grommets.

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