DIY Curtains For a Kid's Room using a Sheet

Learn how to make DIY curtains for a kid’s room using a crib sheet! This simple way of making valances is perfect for customizing any room and adding a handmade touch.

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Hello Crafty Friends! Before my kids were born I had the most fun decorating a nursery with lots of handmade projects. Today I’m excited to share a tutorial for making DIY curtains using sheets. This was a fun and inexpensive way to create custom curtains that matched the theme of our nursery.

When I purchased crib sheets I purchased an extra set of sheets and searched my fabric stash for coordinating fabric. I was able to make two valances for our nursery. Valances are so sweet and can be really cute in a nursery. They are perfect for hiding the curtain rod and adding softness to a room.

Use a combination of playful prints for a modern, updated valance. Below you will find the tutorial to make your own curtains to fit whatever size windows you have. The curtains are fully lined and simple to make with all straight stitching.

How to Make Curtains for a Kid’s Room

Supplies Needed:

Crib sheet
- I used one crib sheet – Alphabet Animal from Pottery Barn Kids
- You may need more than one crib sheet depending on size and amount of windows
Fabric for thin middle stripe
Fabric for bottom section
Lining fabric
Sewing Notions: straight pins, scissors, clear ruler, and thread
3″ Valance Curtain Rods

Step by Step Tutorial

Step One: Calculations!

The first thing you will need to do is the hardest part – calculating the dimensions for your curtains. I made a diagram and figured out all the measurements for each piece of fabric. I only bought one extra crib sheet for this project so the width of my curtains was determined by how much fabric I could get out of the crib sheet. In a perfect world I would have made my curtains so they were 1.5 to 2 times the width of my window but I made it work with one crib sheet.

Here is the diagram and the dimensions I used for my curtains. I have only included measurements for the height of the curtains. since the width will depend on the size of your windows and how full you want the valance. The finished height of the valance is 17″, which is a standard height for a curtain valance. I used a 1/2″ seam allowance for everything.

To determine the width, measure your windows. If you’d like the curtains to have a soft fullness, double the width. Some valance curtain rods will rap around the window so you will need to add 2-3″ to each side. I did not take this into account and one of my valances is less full because of it!

Step Two: Cut the fabric.

Once you have all of your calculations figured out, cut all of your fabrics. The dimensions above include a header, the part of the curtain that is above the rod pocket. In the nursery I tucked the header down, deciding I didn’t want it out. In other rooms of my house I kept the header up, so my instructions include this header so you can decide.

Cutting Guide: Measurements listed below include 1/2″ seam allowance

Section 1: Patterned crib sheet. Cut 13″ x width.
Section 2: Thin green stripe. Cut 2.5″ x width.
Section 3: Bottom striped fabric. Cut 8″ x width. This section wraps around to the back of the curtain.
Section 4: Lining. Cut 14.5″ x width.

Step Three: Sew the curtains.

Sewing the curtains is fairly easy as it is all straight line stitching. Start by stitching sections 1 and 2 together, right sides facing using a 1/2″ seam allowance. Next stitch section 2 to section 3 again, right sides together using a 1/2″ seam allowance. Next stitch sections 3 and 4 together, the bottom fabric and lining, the same way. You will now have one giant rectangle with the crib sheet fabric on the top and the lining fabric on the bottom.

The next step is to take the bottom of the lining fabric and bring it up to the top of the crib sheet fabric. So take section 4 up to section 1. Stitch together, right sides facing with 1/2″ seam allowance. You will now have a tube! Flip your tube inside out and press. If your measurement and calculations were correct, section 3 will wrap around the bottom of your valance to the back side.

The ends of the valance are still open. To finish these ends off, I simply turned the side edges 3/4″ in towards the inside of the tube and pressed. Continue to step 5 before sewing the ends closed.

Step Four: Create the rod pocket.

The final step is to create a pocket for the curtain rod. Top stitch two sewing lines through all layers of your tube. The first row should be 2″ from the top and the second row should be 5″ from the top. Your rod pocket is then 3″ wide, which is perfect for a standard valance rod. Once you have sewn the rod pocket, you can close up the sides of your curtain. Top stitch 1/4″ in from the edge, stopping to leave the rod pocket open. Do not close up the rod pocket or you won’t be able to hang your curtains!

The curtains are finished! Adding these valances to the nursery added such a sweet handmade touch. I love how the curtains match the sheets and tie the room together. I think adding the coordinating fabrics to the crib sheet help to keep the curtains from being over the top matchy-matchy or too dated. Mixing the fabric gives them a nice playful and modern look. They can be used alone on the window or pair them with blackout curtains to help baby sleep!

You can see in the pictures I chose to tuck my header (the top 2″ of the valances) down. I go back and forth on whether I like the header or not, so I switch them up whenever I feel like it.

The first picture below shows my valance on our larger window, the second picture shows the valance on our smaller window. You will notice the curtains on my larger window are fuller than the smaller window. Since I didn’t want to purchase another crib sheet, the second window isn’t as full as I intended. Overall I’m happy with how the curtains turned out, but I’d recommend making the curtains the same amount of fullness so they match.