Beginner friendly tutorial to help you create a unique bohemian shower curtain for your bathroom. The finished curtain is about 70″ wide x 72″ long, which is a standard size for a shower curtain. I would suggest pre-washing your fabric for this project, especially if you are using a combination of different types of fabric. For this project I used various types home decor fabrics, all were 100% cotton. Other fabrics such as quilting fabrics and polyester can be used.
Project Background
I moved into a new apartment with my boyfriend last October. That means it’s time to start decorating! I had a very specific idea in mind for the bathroom, but every time I went shopping I either couldn’t find any shower curtains I liked, or they were way out of my budget. So instead of compromising my style, it’s time to sew a curtain to match exactly what I envisioned.
For my fabric I used 7 different home decor fabrics from Joann’s clearance and remnant sections. I also raided my scrap drawer for any fabrics that might be big enough. The length of fabrics used varied from 1/2 yard to 1 yard cuts. Smaller fabrics can be used, but I do not suggest using cuts smaller than 1/4 yard. Feel free to use more or less than 7 different fabrics to make your perfect shower curtain.
Supplies
- 7 different home decor fabrics of varying length (1/2 yard to 1 yard cuts)
- All purpose thread
- Rotary cutter, mat and ruler
- Sewing machine
- Button hole foot
- Seam ripper
- Iron and ironing board
Below are the cut requirements along with an easy visual to make this shower curtain. To create this visual aide, I used Virtual Graph Paper. This graph is color coded by block size, not actual block color.
Sewing Instructions
- Pre-wash fabric, dry and iron.
- Using your rotary cutter, cutting mat and ruler; cut your fabric into the appropriate sizes. You can also mark your fabric with chalk and cut with fabric scissors. You should have 6- 12.5″x12.5″ pieces, 6- 12.5″x21.5″ pieces, and 15- 12.5″x18.5″ pieces. Use the above diagram to see where each of these pieces are placed.
- Lay your fabric pieces out on a large table or the floor. Move the pieces around to make a pattern you like. Once you have a layout you like, move to the next step and begin sewing!
- With right sides together, using a 1/4″ seam, sew the blocks in each column together, press seams to the side with an iron. Then sew each column together, press seams to the side with an iron. Press all horizontal seems in the same direction and all lateral seams in the same direction.
- Top stitch a scant 1/4″ from the seam line through out the shower curtain.
- For the hem on the sides of the curtain I used a 1/2″ double folded hem. This means I folded the fabric a 1/2″ then folded it over another 1/2″ and sewed my hem at the edge of the fold. A double fold ensures that no raw edge is exposed and decreases fraying.
- For the hem on the top and bottom of the curtain I used a 1 1 /2″ double folded hem. On the top of the quilt, top stitch a 1/4″ from the edge of the curtain and 1/4″ from the hem’s edge. On the bottom of the curtain sew 1/4″ from the folded hem’s edge
- Using your button hole foot, sew 12 basic button holes between the seam lines at the top of your curtain. The first and last one should be 1″ from the edge. Each button hole will be 6″ apart from each other.
- With the seam ripper, rip the fabric in the middle of the button hole.
- Iron your curtain one last time.
- Find some cute shower curtain hooks and hang it up!
I absolutely love how this turned out! The patterns are so lively and bring the whole bathroom together. I used an opaque shower liner for my shower. Because some of my fabric is off white, I didn’t what the lights in the bathroom to cause my seams to show through. The opaque shower liner really helped with this.
Feel free to leave comments with questions or suggestions!
Rosi Quilts 