I guess it would depend on the quality and material of the dropcloth. I can't imagine it would be any cheaper than Ikea curtains, cloth dropcloths are not all that cheap!

I did, and didn't like them. The material was not heavy weight enough for drapery. I hemmed the top and bottom and attached them to the rod with ring clips. The material sagged terribly, so they didn't look nice unless I spent a while of time tweaking them, and still slowly deflated while stacked back as the top hem made the fabric too heavy for the bottom. This also extended to holding a crease, so they also had to be messed with whenever they were opened and then closed.

Perhaps if you can find nice, more stiff/heavyweight dropcloths that I did it would work out better, but I'm pretty sure I bought what the blog people did.

Pic 2 (deleted)

This post was edited by Miz_M on Sat, Mar 23, 13 at 16:06

Before we redid our screened porch late last summer, I hung stationary drop cloth drapes on the porch. I am not aware of any being used as interior curtains. I would imagine they would not look good. My curtains were too stiff and heavy.

This post was edited by newhomebuilder on Fri, Mar 22, 13 at 16:33

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This post was edited by Miz_M on Sat, Mar 23, 13 at 16:07

I see where MZ M has some. They don't look too bad! :)

Another view of mine.

Here are mine:

Mine are $10/panel from Home Depot. I will say that I did buy multiple packages to select the best two that I like. Not all shades are identical from lot to lot and to my surprise, I did end up with a package that had a horizontal seam in it.

I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. I washed them per blog instructions (was it hot?) and took a lot of time to iron. I just folded the top over (no sewing at all) about 8" to get the length I wanted. I like that it made the tops a bit stiffer to add the clip rings which I measured and spaced out (I think about 7" between the rings).

I agree not all drop clothes are created equal and each home improvement store has a slightly different version. The ones at Home Depot have a slight greyish cast to it which works great with the walls, BM Revere Pewter which is a greige. I remember looking at some from Orchard Supply and they were definitely more of a warmer tan shade.

They are one of the things I like best in this room and the $20 price cannot be beat, though I will admit I probably spent about $75 on the rod and clip rings combined since I was going for a very specific look.

Here are mine:

Mine are $10/panel from Home Depot. I will say that I did buy multiple packages to select the best two that I like. Not all shades are identical from lot to lot and to my surprise, I did end up with a package that had a horizontal seam in it.

I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. I washed them per blog instructions (was it hot?) and took a lot of time to iron. I just folded the top over (no sewing at all) about 8" to get the length I wanted. I like that it made the tops a bit stiffer to add the clip rings which I measured and spaced out (I think about 7" between the rings).

I agree not all drop clothes are created equal and each home improvement store has a slightly different version. The ones at Home Depot have a slight greyish cast to it which works great with the walls, BM Revere Pewter which is a greige. I remember looking at some from Orchard Supply and they were definitely more of a warmer tan shade.

They are one of the things I like best in this room and the $20 price cannot be beat, though I will admit I probably spent about $75 on the rod and clip rings combined since I was going for a very specific look.

Newhomebuilder, mine are going out on the patio as soon as I replace them in here. I'm in Tx, and hope they help block the Sun a bit! :-)

Thanks everyone, they do look nice. I know you have to use the heavy weight ones and wash & iron them first. Some people have even painted designs on theirs.

valinsv - Yours look really nice.

Mine were from Sherwin Williams. They have a cream look to them. I should have picked a lighter weight, however. They were a pain to sew and iron! Sitting in the basement now. I am not sure that I will ever use them again anywhere.

I needed a temporary fix until I could decide what to do with a room in our house. Since the curtains had to be 120" long, I needed something inexpensive that required little or no sewing. I got heavy, inexpensive dropcloths at Lowe's. I washed them, used a lot of fabric softener, and ironed until I thought my arm would fall off. Mine have horizontal seams, but that's ok for a temporary solution.

When I finally select a "real" drapery fabric, I won't mind using the dropcloths for their original purpose as I paint other rooms in the house.

I don't have any but saw some at a friend's house, and I was most pleasantly surprised with how good they looked in her guest bedroom. She had folded over the top to make a valance and then hot glued fringe to the edge of the valance which really dressed them up. She used rings with clips to hang them on the rod.

pinkpaula- Your curtains turned out beautifully. I never thought about using fabric softener. With that idea and the ideas from gardenpea, I may have to re-purpose mine INSIDE the house. :)

I'm about to make some with a pinch pleat header. The pinch pleats will take care of that floppy look at the top, and add the evenly spaced fullness without having to constantly fuss with them. Of course, it does make them a tad less "cheap, quick and easy" than just hanging them on clips. I'll post pics when I'm done.

Don't get me wrong - they all look nice BUT....Valinsv's are hanging perfectly with just the right stack and fullness and Pinkpaula's looks pretty good also. In fact, they look as nice as a picture of the Pottery Barn Peyton's :).

What is the difference? Val - did you put anything in the header? Just curious.

I am not picking on you other talented gals - but there is a difference.

Edit to remove pics.

This post was edited by Miz_M on Sat, Mar 23, 13 at 16:10

pinkpaula, I would be tempted to sew grosgrain ribbon on those panels to hide the horizontal seams and keep them as drapes. I like them!

tuesday 2008, I just folded over about 4" on the top and ironed it flat. It made the top stiffer.

angiedfw, Thanks! If I sewed grosgrain ribbon on the horizontal seams, wouldn't it just draw attention to the seams?

franksmom 2010, I didn't want to spend the amount of time it would take to sew pinch pleats, so I cheated. I simply pinched the fabric together from the back and placed the clip rings to hold the fabric. I can't wait to see how yours turn out!

Here are mine. Kinda hard to see but I sewed a sleeve for the rod to pass through. There's about a 2-inch header. It was easier and cheaper than clips. Yes, I washed, bleached and dried mine before sewing. I love washable curtains! LOL.

Here are the ones I made for my daughter's apartment. I used $9.99 dropcloths from Home Depot, 6'x9', and washed and dried them first (no fabric softner, no ironing). They are like a heavy linen and slightly nubby now. I sewed hidden tab tape across the top, and added a strip of remnant fabric across the top.

Mine are 8oz. 6x9 canvas drop cloths from Lowes and don't have the seams down the middle. I washed and dryed. I made a rod pocket at the top using hot glue and it worked great. I have a sewing machine and can do what I need to, but this was so much easier for me. I really ironed. I hemed the bottoms by folding them up and, again, hot glued. No cutting was involved.

These curtains stay open all the time. I didn't like how they looked with clip rings. One panel became really skimpy and I would've needed more rings to space them properly if I added the other panel. I just wasn't into buying more rings as they discontinued the ones I had...yadda ya. I'm still debating about fixing the whole thing. I think the rod should be moved out a few more inches and more curtain fullness added but I'd need to buy a new rod.

I think they look nicer IRL.
{{!gwi}}

Pinkpaula - I really like how you did your rings.

Ladies, I am impressed! I have been wanting a curtain for my dining room and due to the kids + high traffic in front of that window, it definitely needs to be washable. I wonder how those drop cloths would take dye? I like the natural colors of the cloths but my room needs a tobacco brown or darker, I think.

Anyone tried dying them?

Leafy, here's a link to dyed drop cloth curtains

Here is a link that might be useful: RIT dye

Sugar Plum! That is a lovely room, and the drapes are fabulous! Adding that striped fabric was genius! Did you use a ready-made tab tape, or did you just sew strips of fabric to the back? A tab header is my second choice if the pinch pleats don't work out.

FYI, the big 12x9' dropcloths made by Trimaco sold at Walmart and Amazon don't have a seam, and I think they're a hair cheaper than the ones at HD and Lowes. The canvas is 7 oz. weight.

Leafy, the trick to dying a huge piece of fabric like that is to wash it several times first to remove all of the sizing, follow the directions on the dye exactly, and make sure that your washer is big enough for the fabric to move around in the dye bath. Maybe do one panel at a time?

I wasn't planning to iron, I really like that nubby linen look that the canvas gets when it's just washed a few times and dried in the dryer. I made slipcovers ages ago for our large futon chairs, and the fabric just gets better and softer with every wash, and there hasn't been any stain (even gel ink) that I couldn't get out of the fabric.

I'm making these drapes for the craft room, There's a bay window that is just a thorn in my side. I hung a large rod straight across it, which doesn't look bad, but finding a nice neutral, heavier weight washable drape has been an issue. The window faces southwest, so I tried blackout curtains, but the foam backing has washed off in places, and most of the lined drapes are made of a fabric that is more formal that what would look right in this room.

These are all just wonderful. I can't believe how nice they look. Great job, everyone!

Thank you, franksmom! I used ready-made tab tape because I stumbled on a close-out/discontinued product at JoAnn's and got the tape for $.15 per yard (and I bought all they had)! Luckily, the tab spacing worked out perfectly for the size of the drop cloth.