SHOWER VALANCE

I know....for those who have been following my projects, you are wondering, is she ever going to finish that bathroom? 

I'm pretty darn close now.....I just finished the shower valance; the last of the DIY projects .  Then, I just want to get one of those nice memory foam carpets for when our guest steps out of the shower and it will be done, done, done.....that is, until the next great idea comes to me  ;)

Nice touch, don'tcha think?  
There are some beautiful embroidered cottons available in the fabric stores today and when the purple and green one caught my eye, I thought it would enhance the existing shower curtain.   I know you've got to appreciate this more than my husband did......tell me, you do!?

Some of the fabrics can be kind of spendy, so time your purchase with one of the sales that seem to always be going on and keep in mind that you will only need a yard since the standard shower rod is 70" wide.  Most of the cottons are 45-48" wide, so you'll be able to cut the fabric in half lengthwise  to give you a total of 72" (36" x 2).  That added two inches will give you what you need for a rolled hem on both widths of the valance.  Hopefully, you are following along so far.

The two other items that I used were trim and 2" wide woven interfacing (the interfacing is used at the top of the valance).  You could actually use non-woven interfacing if you'd like since the valance doesn't have the same construction as tailored drapes; I've just used the woven in the past when I've made draperies and I like the structure it gives to the header.  Just know that the purpose is to give it a crisp line and stability for the 12 buttonholes that will go across the top of the valance.

Now for the finished dimensions of my valance, again; just my thoughts, you may want yours narrower or wider than mine.   It measures 17" wide. 
The construction is not too difficult. The very first thing I did was make a rolled edge hem on each side so that my finished width was 70".   Next, I finished the top edge for the header.  I pressed under the raw edge 1/2" and then folded 2" toward the wrong side, or what would become the inside, sliding the interfacing between the layers:machine stitch 1/4" from the top edge and 1/4" from the bottom edge. I then took care of my buttonholes.  As I mentioned earlier, there are a total of twelve.   I simply measured the existing shower curtain for proper placement.

 After that, I chose to add three tucks horizontally from one edge to the other.  Obviously, this part is totally up to you.  I just  felt they added an interesting design element.  My first tuck is 8" from the finished top edge.

 
The final step was to finish the bottom edge.  I used a finishing stitch on the raw edge and folded the finished edge up 1/2" to the underside of the valance.  From the right side of the fabric, I stitched the trim so that it hung just below the finished hemline.






If you look closely in the picture below, you can see projects from previous posts like the wall stencils and decoupage tiles....on the countertop (which you can't see in this picture) is the decanter with the layers of colored sand.....the blog post just prior to this one.