Squeaky Clean: A Shower Curtain

Hi All! I'm Angela from Cut To Pieces, and I'm back again today to share with you my latest project; The Squeaky Clean Shower Curtain.

 I recently moved to a new house and found myself in need of a new shower curtain for the bathroom my daughter mainly uses. I wanted to make something that would appeal to her little senses but also be appropriate for adults and guests. I spied Lucy's Crab Shack by Sweetwater and knew that it was meant to be! I chose the prints that were the most gender neutral to me and would work with my focal print with the large orange bicycles.

 The simplicity yet sophistication of the design allows me to have a patchwork shower curtain without it feeling too "homemade". The shower curtain is a hit with everyone in the house and will definitely grow well with my daughter!



12 Grommets with mounting hardware
7 - 19 Fat Quarters (I used 19 but you could repeat your fabrics and use fewer prints)
4 yards of laminated cotton canvas
1/4" wide steam a seam lite or other fabric glue
Small clips (for holding laminated canvas together)


Cut the laminate cotton canvas into (2) 65" length pieces. Discard the extra fabric.

Then cut one of the pieces to be 42 1/2" wide. (You are mostly taking off the selvages here)

Cut the second 65" long piece into (2) 15 1/4" wide pieces. Discard the extra fabric.

Sew the laminated cotton pieces rst along the length of each piece, centering the 42 1/2" wide piece between the two 15 1/4" wide pieces.

  Use clips to help you hold the laminated cotton together as pins will most likely bend and cause puncture holes in the fabric.

 


CAREFULLY press the seam allowance toward the outside, making sure not to stretch the laminated cotton or touch the iron to the laminated side of the print. Press from the back.

 Because the fabric is laminated, it will not fray, so we can leave the edges raw. Yay for less work!

 
 At the top of the shower curtain, fold under the edge by 3/4". Again, CAREFULLY press this edge down using a pressing cloth to protect the fabric and your iron. A lower setting on your iron may also help prevent distortion.

  Fold the edge again, this time by 4". Use that pressing cloth!

  Using a laminated foot on your machine (or masking tape on the bottom of your presser foot), sew the folded edge in place along the top of the shower curtain.

Across the top of the shower curtain, mark a dot on each end measuring in 1 1/2" from both the side and the top. Then continue to mark the grommet locations for the remaining 10 grommets approximately every 6 1/4" across, also 1 1/2" down from the top edge.

 

Install the 12 grommets across the top of the shower curtain according to the manufacturer's instructions. You may find it helpful to use the grommet to trace the location and scissors to trim out any excess fabric before installing the grommets.

 

Put aside the top portion of the shower curtain and pull out the fat quarters now.

Choose 1 fat quarter to be the running strip across the width of the shower curtain. (Mine is the blue polka dot print). Cut (4) strips 2 1/2" wide and sew them together at each short end.

 

TIP: Some leftover Jelly Roll Strips would also work perfectly here!

 Take your remaining fat quarters (I used 18 different ones) and cut (1) 4 1/2" x 20" strip from each. (They are easily cut on the fold)

 

Sew the strips rst along the long side in a pleasing random order. Press your seam allowances open.

 



REALITY CHECK: At this point your newly sewn strips should be a half inch wider than your laminated cotton upper portion of the shower curtain (which is 72"). Check to see if the fat quarters are indeed a half inch wider than the laminated cotton. If they are not (It's REALLY easy to lose some length with all of those seam allowances), then simply add on another fat quarter strip of the width you need to get your dimensions to work. This is a very forgiving pattern and no one will notice an extra strip on one end that a little different than the others. ;)

Sew your long 2 1/2" wide strip (again, mine is the blue polka dot) across the top of the sewn strips using a 1/4" seam allowance and trim it to match your fat quarter strip.


 


Fold the short edge of each side under by 1/4" and press.

 



Then fold the long bottom edge under by a 1/4" and press it as well.

 


Line up the top of the fat quarter strips with the bottom of the laminated fabric, right sides together. Be sure to keep the 1/4" edges folded in.

 

Hold the two pieces together using the clips again. If your pieces do not align perfectly, see the Reality Check portion above. Sew the laminated cotton to the fat quarter strips along the long edge using a 1/4" seam allowance.

 

 CAREFULLY press the fat quarter strips down with the seam allowance pressed in the direction of the fat quarter strips. Top stitch the seam allowance in place along the top of the fat quarter strips.

 

Now apply the 1/4" steam a seam lite to the folded edge of the fat quarter strip according to the manufacturer's instructions. We are essentially "gluing" the fabric in place on the back side because it will be too difficult to use pins for this next step.

Flip the strips around to the back, WRONG sides together, and carefully place the folded edge of the bottom fat quarter strip on top of the seam allowance between the top of the fat quarter strip and the bottom of the laminated cotton. Allow the adhesive to hold the piece in place.

 

Top stitch a second time FROM THE FRONT across the top of the fat quarter strips to permanently attach the fabric in place.

 

Lay the shower curtain flat and press the bottom fold of the shower curtain, moving your way from the top of the fat quarter strip to the bottom.

 

Pin your short folded sides together and stitch along each short side and across the bottom of the shower curtain.

 




For aesthetic reasons, you may want to stitch more places together. I chose to also top stitch along the bottom of my blue polka dot print to match the top stitching above.

 

You now have a shower curtain with laminated cotton on the top and cotton fabric on the bottom with all the seams nicely concealed.

 


Take a step back and admire your new shower curtain! (This was the only time I could get a relatively decent shot of the whole thing)


 

Hang it up in your bathroom and ENJOY!


 








1 Shower Curtain approximately 72" x 72" just perfect for the kids or the kid in you!




Please note: I still hang this with a clear plastic liner as the back of the shower curtain is not water proof. Also, please check the dimensions of your own tub/shower before starting to confirm that this is the desired size you need. For a shower you may easily choose to make this less wide!

If you make this pattern or any of my other patterns here on Moda Bakeshop, please add your photos to my group on Flickr, Cut to Pieces, and the Moda Bakeshop group. I'd love to see them!

Angela Pingel
{Cut to Pieces}