A tailored window valance has inverted box pleats instead of gathers, which causes a look that’s timeless and sleek instead of overtly feminine or fussy. A tailored valance subtly softens a bare window or conceals the hanging hardware for blinds or shades. Board mount your tailored valance to extend a clean-lined look that complements it better than rings or rod pockets. Making the valance from mild- to medium-weight fabric produces the crispest pleats.

Assess the window’s outside width, from the left outside edge of the side molding to the ideal outside edge. If your window does not have a frame, measure the width of the window opening. Add 4 inches into the result to your valance’s finished width.

Measure from the place above the window in which you want the valance to begin down the position on the glass in which you want the hem to drop. The outcome is the valance’s completed length.

Saw 3/4-inch plywood to a long, narrow rectangle that measures 3 1/2-inches deep by the width that you determined in Step 1. Paint the plywood strip, which is your mounting board, to match your walls or window frame.

Insert 18 1/2 ins to your valance’s finished width from Step 1. Add 4 inches into the finished length from Measure 2. Cut your own valance fabric to these measurements.

Lay your trim fabric with the decorative side facing down. Fold the short sides over 1 inch. Fold them over another inch to conceal the cut borders and generate a dual hem. Pin the dual hems in place. Repeat with the long sides of the fabric.

Set the fabric decorative side on your own sewing machine. Straight-stitch the side hems using a 3/4-inch seam allowance. Repeat with the top and bottom hems.

Lay the hemmed fabric using the decorative side facing upwards. Fold the fabric in half width-wise to find the center. With a straightedge ruler along with also an erasable fabric marker, draw a line from the top of the valance into the bottom hem to mark the middle. Draw additional top-to-bottom lines 1 1/4 inches from each side of the middle line. Repeat with three top-to-bottom lines spaced 4 3/4, 6 and 7 1/4 ins from each brief side of the valance. Each of the 3 classes with three lines marks your inverted pleats.

Pinch the fabric between your thumbs and forefingers at the two outer lines of the middle line group. Pull the fabric up and toward the middle until the outer lines meet at the middle line to form a pleat. Hold the pleat together using straight pins placed perpendicular to the pleat. Repeat with the other two sets of three top-to-bottom lines.

Place your fabric decorative-side-up on your own sewing machine. At the peak of the valance, straight-stitch a 2 1/2-inch row of stitches across the top of every pleat. Use a 3/4-inch seam allowance, which conceals the pleat stitching in the stitches of the top hem. Erase any observable mark lines. Press the pleats with your iron, according to the fabric’s care directions.

Cut 3/4-inch, sew-on hook-and-loop tape 7 inches more than your valance’s finished width from Step 1. Pin the delicate half of the hook-and-loop tape across the non-decorative side of the valance’s upper hem. With the valance’s decorative side facing, machine-sew the long top and bottom sides of the tape into the valance.

Staple the demanding half of the hook-and-loop tape across the front and either side of the mounting board. Fasten the valance into the mounting board by pressing the two parts of the hook-and-loop tape together. Make sure that the inverted pleats close to the ends of the valance align the front corners of the mounting board.

Screw L-brackets into the wall above your window at every side of its opening or frame. Position the mounts so that the projecting legs hold the mounting board at the hanging height you determined in Step 2. Put in a third L-bracket over the window at the wall stud that is closest to the window middle; studs are typically spaced every 16 to 24 inches.

Rest the mounting board on the L-brackets. Screw the brackets to the bottom of the mounting board to secure it.

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