Dolls House Curtain Making
There are many references to curtains throughout our history; they were first used as an early form of draught excluder by attaching material, mostly sacking, over open holes in the walls to keep out the wind and cold draughts. Curtains were then used as dividers between a living area; and sleeping area; four-poster beds had the curtains added for privacy and also to keep warm; the top covering also prevented anything falling from the roof onto the sleeping occupants. Tapestries were hung on walls to make rooms seem warmer, plus they looked good with all the scenes and added to the interior decoration.
Curtains were used as door hangings, bed furnishings and room dividers rather than window coverings in Tudor times. Preferred Tudor colours were rich or warm like red, gold, green, brown & yellow. Curtains became fashionable in the Georgian period, the curtain pole was introduced and by the time of the Regency era, swags & tails and blinds had arrived. Georgian Design is very uncluttered with a preference for plain pastel colours or stripes, such pale, green, pink, lemon or powder blue.
With the onset of the Victorian age the colour scheme changed again for a much darker palette including purples, burgundy, dark greens and highly pattened such as paisley and floral designs. The Victorians also preferred more elaborate window dressings, this period saw the birth of the pelmet, valances and lambrequins.
A house needs decorations to make it a home and curtains - drapes add to this by complimenting the furnishings. These can be chosen to co-ordinate with the furniture, or wall decorations.
In the 20th century curtain design has borrowed from all the previous periods plus added a few more unique elements such as the geometric patterns of the 1960's and the current shabby chic. Windows of dolls houses vary in size as do normal windows, each one is individual.
The Basics
Materials Needed (NB - Items needed vary depending upon which method of construction chosen, please read both choices carefully and purchase materials accordingly):
Thin Card & Lined Writing Paper
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors
Cotton Fabric Lace or Braid
Hairspray: Extra Hold/ Spray Starch
Fine Dressmaking Pins
Foam Pad or Mouse Pad
Knitting Needle/ BBQ Sticks/Mini Pleater
Table Knife or Scoring Wheel
Wet Wipes
Cocktail Sticks
Tacky Glue
Fray-Check
Masking Tape
Pieces of Chosen Curtain Material
Iron
Points To Remember:
Measure carefully.
Check and measure again.
Take your time.
Curtain making is a slow process.
Do NOT use velvet - this is too thick and velvet curtains do not look right in dolls house scale.
Do NOT use satin - this is too shiny and does not hang properly.
Curtains do NOT need to be lined - as this creates bulk.
Swags do NOT need to be lined.
Tails can be lined to make the design stand out.
Choose very small patterns in material or the curtains will look out of scale.
Use paper or thin card to make up your patterns - this saves you making mistakes with your precious fabric.
Because of scale issues, if you want curtains with a realistic looking 'fall', it is not possible to make them functioning, i.e. able to be drawn open or closed.
This tutorial will show you how to make an open pair.
They do not hang from a rail but are fixed to a solid pelmet.
Measuring Your Windows
1. Measure the height of the window including the architrave and sill.
2. Measure from the top of the window to the cornice or ceiling height.
3. Measure from the floor to sill height.
4. Measure the width of the window including the architrave.
Use these measurements to make a drawing of the window shape on plain sheet of A4 paper marking exactly where the floor and ceiling are, refer to the image on the left.
There are two methods of making curtains that I am going to reproduce below:
Construction Method 1
Working Block
Place the paper with the window drawing in the centre of a Ceiling tile; cover the whole tile in cling film. This is your working block.
Iron your fabric. Look for faults, in silk these may look like faults but it is a natural material and these faults can enhance your work.
With the block in front of you, measure the width of the window and add 1 inch for hems. (Each side hem requires half an inch). Measure on the block to where you wish your curtain to finish, either at the floor or sill height, again add 1 inch half an inch at the top and bottom.
This measurement is done for all windows including "Bays"
Carefully measure and pencil this on your fabric; use a ruler; use a disappearing pencil line if you are worried the line will show.
Go over the pencil line with a fine line of Tacky glue. Use a cocktail stick if you do not have a glue applicator. Leave to set for 15 - 20 minutes then cut out on the glue line.
Remember you need two curtains for each window!
With the wrong side of the material facing you, turn down a 1/2" hem at the top and turn up a ½" hem at the bottom; press with an iron. Set the heat of the Iron according to the fabric chosen.
Cut two strips of card 1/4" by the length of the curtain less 1/2"
This is called the " return" which will eventually be attached to the wall and architrave. This keeps the curtain hanging 'straight' at the sides.
Place the strip of card 1/4" in from the left side on one curtain and the same measurement in from the right side of the other curtain.
Place a small amount of glue on the return and fold over the material to fully cover the card. Press with an iron.
If using a patterned fabric, fold your chosen fabric in half and measure the window width remember to add the extra inch for the hems. This makes sure the pattern matches. This also makes sure the curtains are exactly the same length; try on the block for size. Any alterations can be made at this point.
Make up as above, cutting the fabric in half only when you start to pleat the curtains.
How To Use A Mini Pleater
The pleater is made from rubber compound moulded into a flat mat with ribs on one side, its impervious to mild heat and water, enabling an iron to be used to set your pleats into the cloth.
Pleaters generally come in a few different sizes, and differ by the amount of pleats available per inch, 5 , 7 or 11. The pleater used on the curtains in this tutorial has 5 pleats to the inch.
If you hold the pleater under running water, shake off the excess; this helps the material to stay in the base of the ribs. This works for all sizes of pleaters.
Place the pleater in front of you with the ribs running horizontally. With the
material
the wrong side up, place the "Return" in the first rib, slide a ruler evenly across
the rib, as this helps to settle the material.
Continue to bring in the material towards the return, sliding the ruler into each rib, making sure to keep the hems level and do this until you have 3/4" of fabric left.
It might help to place a BBQ stick in the pleater ribs as this keeps the fabric in place. Fold back the 3/4" into the rib you have just completed and any more material into the rib before that.
Do the opposite curtain in the same way. Use spray starch to spray the curtains and leave overnight to dry completely. The starch will not harm the pleater.
When the curtains are dry, carefully remove the curtains and place them face down on the working block. Place pins at the edges of the return top and bottom, where they are to be at the window.
Pin at the top inside edges. This is the width of the pleated curtain at the window.
If you wish to have tiebacks, ease the curtain into position and pin to hold. Pin the curtains in place at the inside bottom edges where the curtains would fall naturally. To keep the pleats in place make a 'Pleat Retainer'
Pleat Retainer
Cut a strip of card 1/4" by the width of the curtain at the top edge, include a small amount to be attached to the return and glue this in place along the pleats at the top edge.
The card can be covered with material if you require. Do both curtains. For the tie back area - use a little glue inside all the pleats to hold them in place. Do this at the bottom of the curtains as well.
Finishing Touches
There are several patterns for tie backs, these can be seen in fabric and curtain shops and even magazines; choose one or even your own design, using Bond a Web to help stiffen the material. Use braid to decorate. Slip the tie back under the curtain in its correct position, glue the tie back to the curtain return and glue onto the pleats at the back - which will be facing you.
Do the other curtain to match. It helps if you place lined writing paper under the curtains, with a line at the floor edge. Pin this in place so it will not move, then you can make sure the tiebacks are even. Leave the glue to dry.
Place tacky glue down the edge of the return and place this against the wall by the frame edge. Hold in place with pins until dry.
Do the other side. Place low tack masking tape on the architrave, and another piece on the curtain. Place together for an instant hold. Neither will hurt the wood or fabric.
If you want tiebacks, make these, as before by pulling in the fabric at the levelyou want the tie back to be and pin in place. Leave to dry.
The Curtains are now ready to hang. Take out the pins; place the curtains against the window architrave.
Construction Method 2
Curtain Construction
Cut two pieces of fabric for your curtains. Each should be the width of your window. Length will be a personal preference for you but when you've worked it out add ¼" for the hem and ½" for fixing at the top. If this turns out to be too long you can always trim away at the top before you fix.
Cut two thin strips of card, approximately ¼", the length of the fabric you've just cut, plus an extra ½". The extra ½" makes it easier to handle later. Decide which is going to be the wall edge of each curtain piece. If you have a patterned fabric make sure you get the pattern going to same way on both pieces. From now on you're going to work each step with both curtains. This will ensure you don't get two left curtains or one upside down.
Turn your fabric so that the wrong side faces you. Glue your strips of card to the outside window edge. Make sure that you leave ¼" clear at the bottom hem edge and that you have the excess card at the top edge. This will help you identify the top edge.
NB - If you are using silk fabric to make your curtains, don't use glue. Use the double sided iron-on bonding web they use for hemming trousers/skirts. Glue will stain silk.
When the card is dry, turn the edge inward and glue it in place so that the card is now invisible and you have a clean hemmed edge at one side of your curtain. Now you can tell which is the top edge, because you have a bit of card sticking out.
Turn and glue the hem at the other side of your curtain. No card on this edge, since you want it to be flexible.
Turn up and glue the ¼" hem at the bottom of your curtain. You should now have two hemmed curtains.
Your table, hands and equipment will get sticky during these processes so use wet wipes to clean them, in order to avoid staining the curtains.
Next, gather your foam pad, knitting needle and pins to prepare for pleating. First, pin your first curtain to the pad along the card stiffened edge. At the inner edge of the card so that you have a flat section at the outer edge. I usually use four pins and recommend you use as few pins as you feel you can get away with. You will need at least one at the top edge and one at the bottom hem.
Slip your knitting needle beneath the fabric and butt it up against the line of pins. The pleat size determines your needle size. Try not to get your pleats too small. An average dolls house curatin has approx 6 - 8 pleats.
Push the fabric up to form a fold over the needle and pin it in place close against the needle.
Use a pin to pull your fabric into place over the needle. It works better than a finger andyou can see what you're doing. Plus, as soon as the fabric is in place you can use the pin to fix it to the pad. Use about 3 pins per fold, but if you don't feel confident with that few, use more. A lot will depend on your fabric.
Work one curtain at a time, but make sure you end up with the same number of pleats'
(folds) in each.
When you have the first fold pinned in place, slide out the knitting needle and slip it under the fabric again, butting it up against your new line of pins. Form another fold, as you did the first time. Then continue the same steps, until you have all your fabric pleated. Repeat with the second curtain.
Silk will come out as stiff as cardboard. Cotton will vary. Fabrics with a high man-made fibre content are the most difficult and in some cases impossible. Silk is one of the few fabrics I've found that doesn't seem to spread open after a while. So it's ideal if you want to make straight curtains. The best fabrics are cotton and silk or fabrics with a high percentage of either.
You can stop here if you want a straight pair of curtains. Spray your curtains with hairspray and set them aside to dry. Make sure the curtains are good and wet.
If you want tie backs for your curtains continue with the next steps. It is better to use the tie back method as lots of fabrics will spread after hanging a while, leaving you with curtains wider at the hem than at the top.
Tie Back Construction
To make the tie backs cut two strips of fabric 3"long by ¾" wide.
Turn in one side of the length and make a hem. Glue along the edge, press down, then glue to the opposite side.
You should end up with two long strips about half an inch wide.
Measure up your curtains at the card edged side, somewhere between 2½" and 1" from the bottom hem. The longer the curtain you are making, the greater the distance. Use 2½ inches for an 8½ inch long curtain and 1 inch for a 5½ inch curtain. Mark this point by pushing a pin through the fabric and into the foam pad.
Mark both curtains this way at the same time. This way you ensure they're both the same. This step is difficult, so be patient with yourself. Using a pin, gently push the fold nearest your card edge towards the pin you've just placed and pin it in position close against the card. Repeat this with the second pleat.
You cannot move more pleats up close unless you remove some of the pins now. From the hem and possibly from further up too. Try not to remove any pins above your tie back if you can help it. Carefully remove the remaining pins between your tie back area and the hem. If you're very careful about it the folds will still be visible so that you can then drag them up to the edge of the curtain at the tie back mark too.
This will leave you with a fan like section below your tie back. Carefully drag the folds back so that they lie parallel to the card edge and pin them in place. Continue with pleating. You should now have two very realistic looking pleated curtains and the last step is easy. Using your can of hairspray, spray them thoroughly. Now you just lay them on one side to dry and bring them back with you next week. Don't unpin them in the meantime. Saturate the curtain pleats with hairspray heavily, make sure they are good and wet.
Pelmet Construction
Measure your window width. If you are using decorative architrave include that in the measurements; then add half an inch. The extra half-inch is to ensure there is an overlap of ¼ inch each side of the window, just as you would if you were dressing a full size window. Now draw a rectangle the length you have just calculated and 3/8 inch deep.
Draw another rectangle, attached BELOW the first one. This should be one inch deep and extend 3/8 inch wider at either end than the first rectangle you drew. Draw another rectangle, this should be half an inch deep and extend 2/8 inch wider at either end than the first rectangle you drew. Score along the lines. Cut out your shape. Fold all the score lines inward then flatten them again.
This is your basic curtain pelmet shape. The front of the pelmet is the bottom rectangle.
Now you need to cover the pelmet you just made. Cut a rectangle of fabric the same size as your pelmet, plus ½ inch all around, then lay face down. Spread glue along one long edge of your fabric and fold it in.
Fold the other edge of your fabric over the pelmet and glue in place to give a nice neat edge. Snip the excess fabric at the pelmet corners diagonally to reduce the bulk.
Snip in from the edge of the fabric to the center rectangle of your card pelmet at both edges of the indentation. Fold that fabric in and glue in place.
Fold in all the remaining raw edges and glue in place. You have now completely covered your pelmet. Decorate the front pelmet (the largest rectangle) with braid or lace.
Completing Curtain Construction
Turn your curtains right side down. Attach a tie back to each curtain (as shown) with a dab of glue at the card side. Make sure you have the right side of the tie back facing you.
When the glue is dry, wrap the tie back around the curtain from front to back and glue in place on itself at the stiffened outside edge of your curtain. Attaching the tie back at a slight downward angle for a realistic look. Snip off any excess fabric. Let dry.
Your curtains are now finished. 
Now bring in your pelmet and lay it face down. Snip off any excess card left at the top of each curtain. Spread glue on the inside back edge of the pelmet. On the inside of the rectangle that you have not decorated. Only put glue where you're going to attach the curtain.
Press the curtains into place on the glue. Only press down in the valleys of the
folds or you will squash your pleats flat. If your fingers are too large to get in
the valleys, use the flat of your knitting needle or the flat of a pair of tweezers
to press. Make sure you get the curtains edges at right angles to the pelmet. Let
dry. Once dry, apply glue on the outside face of the back side pelmet tabs. Fold
your pelmet forward, affix the side tabs of the front to the side tabs of the back.
This will form a little box pelmet. Flip over, gently press down the front of the
pelmet.
Pelmets 
If you want to be more adventurous with your pelmets you can purchase pelmet templates or ready made pelmet boxes which you just have to cover. You can then decorate edges with a thin braid as I have done in the picture below.
Tiebacks
You can make tiebacks from a template and decoarting them with tassells or edging
but I found that using a fine decorative cord can be just as effective especially
if you split down the cord and make rosettes as a feature, Below are some examples.
Alternate Design Window Coverings
Pocket Curtains
Measure the windows and cut two pieces of fabric, each as wide as the width of the window and the length of the drop plus 1". Seal the edges with Fray check. Sew or glue a 1/8" hem along the side edges and 1/2" along the bottom.
Iron down a 1/2" hem at the top of each curtain, Sew a line of fine stitching 1/16" from the raw edge of the hem. Push the proposed rail in the pocket and push it with a pin against the sewn line. Then mark a pencil line on the other side of the rail. Remove the rail and sew just the other side of the pencil line, this will ensure that the pocket for the rail is a snug fit.
Place both the curtains on the rail and fit the finials, you can then pleat the curtains as per the instructions in method 2 if you prefer the pleated look but want to fit rails. Attach the screw hooks to the wall at the right distance for the curtains and hang the curtains from them.
Fixed Roller Blind
Cut two thin pieces of cloth the size of the window. Bond the two pieces together back to back with fusible interlining so that the rolled up section will look the same as the main body of the blind. Cut a BBQ Stick the same size as the window using the central portion. Spread a thin line of glue (A syringe is perfect for this) at the top edge of the blind and place the skewer on this edge and carefully roll up the blind keeping it as tight as possible, when you have reached your preferred length, spread another thin line of glue and hold in place with a weight until dry.
In the middle of the bottom of blind attach the "pull cord". This can be waxed cord or tiny chain with a decorative bead or pearl on the bottom. Glue a decorative braid or thin lace onto the bottom front edge of the blind, this will cover the place where you attached the pull cord to the blind. Glue the rolled blind to the top of the window.
Roman Blind
Cut a piece of cloth the size of the window plus 1" all round. Seal the edges with Fray check. Sew or glue a 1/4" hem along the side edges and 1/2" along the bottom & top.Trim the bottom edge with braid if required.
Starting near the top fold the material horizontally back upon itself at regular intervals and pin into place until you are happy with the pleating on the blind. Offer up to window and if the correct length fuse the pleats into position. (Cover the blind with a handkerchief whilst ironing to prevent the material scortching). Make a matching pelmet and glue the top of the blind to the inside of the pelmet. Fix to the wall with velcro or glue.
A recommended book on this subject is called Dolls House Do-it-Yourself - Curtains by Sue Heaser which is available from Amazon. The curtains that appears at the start of this page are from this book.
