One of the easiest and most affordable ways to add color and personality is to change your shower curtain. If you don’t want a permanent time-consuming makeover, simply replace it with a new one in a pattern or print that speaks to you! Even if you already have a non-removable shower curtain in place, this project can be done in just minutes without tools or fuss.
Just swap for a new printable fabric panel instead of hanging up a traditional plastic shower curtain. In fact, most people won’t even notice the difference! The finished product will look something like this:
How to Make It
1) Purchase shower curtain fabrics from your local fabric store. You’ll find many wonderful prints here at about $8-$12/yard. Choose a cotton or cotton/poly blend for durability and easy care.
2) Measure the length of your current shower curtain rod. Cut two pieces of fabric to this length plus 1-1/2″ (so the curtains will overlap). If you don’t have a rotary cutter, scissors work just fine.
3) Hem one end by turning under 1/2″ twice and stitching along the edge with a straight stitch. Repeat on another panel. These hems are where the panels will attach to your existing shower rod or rings that came with it, so make sure they are adequately reinforced! Unfortunately, I didn’t do this step on my first set of DIY Shower Curtains…and after a few washings, they began to fray and fall apart.
4) Measure your current shower curtain rings, or order new ones if needed. Simply cut two pieces of fabric the same length as your rod measurement + 1-1/2″ (so the panels will overlap). Hem one end of each piece just like you did with the rod coverings. Now attach them to your rod or ring! Place the finished hemmed side of each panel on either side of your existing shower curtain rods or rings. You might want to use a small amount of Stitch Witchery to secure these panels together before attaching, especially if you can’t sew! Then hang up your new DIY Shower Curtain Art…and enjoy!
Wouldn’t these make great gifts for your hard-to-buy-for friends and family members? Or are you ready to try it yourself now?
What You’ll Need
1) Fabric paint or acrylic paint in various colors (check out your local craft store for the best selection of artist-quality paints)
2) An old white shower curtain…
3) A foam brush…
4) Scissors…
5) Straight pins…
6) And an iron. (Tip: If you don’t have an iron, you can easily make one out of a cardboard box and a string.)
Instructions:
- The first thing we did was to cut the images we wanted from magazines. We used images that had negative space (i.e. open space) such as below:
- We made sure to choose images that had a lot of contrast. For example, for this arty shower curtain, we used a photo with a lot of dark tones on a light background and vice versa.
- Once you choose an image to use, cut it out and place it onto your shower curtain. Be sure to leave at least 1 inch around the edges so you have room to work with later on.
- Next up: Time to paint! We used fabric paints because they don’t require any special preparation or drying time. Just remember that the more layers of paint applied, the darker your end result will be (i.e., if you’re going for an arty effect).
- When our images were dry, we removed them from the shower curtain and prepped them for ironing.
- Once the arty shower curtain images were secure, we set our iron to a hot, but not too hot setting and used a piece of scrap fabric as a pressing cloth to protect the arty shower curtain from getting scorched by the high temperature.
- Next up: Time for the final touch! We chose a letter to paint in gold…
- And painted it on top of each arty shower curtain image! It was that simple–no stencils or special skills required.
Here’s what our arty shower curtains looked like when they were finished:
What do you think? Aren’t these DIY arty shower curtains fabulous? Let us know got any questions in the comments section below! Happy crafting, everyone!
Conclusion:
Arty shower curtains are super easy to make, cost less than $30 for two arty shower curtains and they’re also great arty shower curtain gifts. Here is why arty shower curtains rock:
They are arty They are original; not made by big companies They can be very cheap if you recycle an old arty shower curtain You can make arty shower curtain gifts with them Can be found anywhere on the internet Make arty Christmas arty shower curtains too!
