Tension Rod Blackout Curtains

Imagine yourself, at the end of a long day, drifting peacefully off to sleep in your freshly made bed. You get eight, glorious hours of uninterrupted sleep and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to start the day! Now, enter my reality . . .

Spend 30 minutes each night after lights out to tend to my two year old's never ending needs - "I need to go to the potty" (she still wears a diaper), "I lost my blanket" (she just threw it out of her crib), "I need another drink" (even though she already had two), "I need my jammies" (even though they were on when she went into her crib). Finally, I spend an hour of time with my husband, drag myself to bed, only to be woken up at least 2 to 4 times per night by the above mentioned two year old. I wake up groggy, cranky and definitely NOT ready to start my day.

So, in my quest to get everyone in this house some more shut eye, I knew I needed some black out shades for her window. They are at least $10 per panel (and I needed 2) plus the cost of a new curtain rod. I really didn't want to spend $20 on curtains when she already had perfectly good curtains and blinds in her room already!

While I was reading Martha Stewart magazine, I came across an article showing how to make a simple curtain and attach it to the window with tension rods. Brilliant! This would definitely work to make these black out shades. I wanted to be able to remove them easily during the day so we could actually play in there!


Please note - I am no seamstress. I am not even a great sewer and I usually find a short cut way to do things. There is probably a much more reliable way to make these, but this works and is quick and easy!
Tension Rod Curtains

Supplies Needed:

Step One:
Measure your window's length and width inside the frame where the tension rods will go. Add 1 - 2" to each end's length (to create a rod pocket).
*I added 1 1/2" to each end of my length measurement to account for a 7/16" tension rod. (You may need to add more or less fabric depending on the size of your tension rod.)
Step Two:
Cut your fabric to size. Since we are using blackout curtain fabric, there is no need to stitch or seal the edges. It is a vinyl type material and the edges don't really fray. One more reason this project is so simple!

Step Three:
Fold your fabric over with wrong sides together at each end and pin. You will fold it over for whatever measurement you added in step one. So for example, I folded each end over 1 1/2". You do not need to fold under the raw edge - you will see why in the next step.


Step Four:
Set your machine to a zig zag stitch.


Place your fabric in the machine so the unfinished edge of fabric runs right down the middle of your presser foot. Sew down the length of each edge. 

Edge of fabric is shown with red dotted line as it didn't show up in picture
This will attach the fabric together and create your rod pocket. 

Finished zig zag stitch (see how the fabric is held together by the stitch?)
Step Five:
Remove pins and add your tension rods.


Step Six:
Hang in your window! I added my shade between the window and the wooden blinds. This makes the room the darkest and you can't see the blackout curtain with her blinds and curtains closed.




It is so hard to take pictures of a dark room, but here is a comparison of with and without the shade. The only light is coming from the hall. You can see on the right side how much darker her room is!


I am glad to report this has made it much easier for her to fall asleep at night while it is still light out and for her to sleep in a little in the morning.

Linking up here: 
The Shabby Nest, Tatertots and Jello, The Girl Creative, The Gunny Sack, Not Just a Houswife, Sugar Bee Crafts, Clean and Scentsible, Delightful Order, Sew Many Ways

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