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My girls have been waking at the crack of dawn, lately. Ladies, I am NOT a morning person! Something had to be done. As many of you know, I’m also not crazy about my little sweeties being exposed to unnecessary chemicals. Whatever store-bought blackout curtains and shades are made of, they stink to high heaven. My guess is that those fumes are less than wholesome, so…
I made my own blackout curtains! Before you say “I can’t sew!”, don’t panic. All you need to do is sew two straight lines. Promise!(Don’t worry, that curtain doesn’t stay up there during the day. 
)
Why Make Your Own Blackout Curtains?
- No stinky fumes!
- It’s easy.
- It’s fast.
- It’s pretty cheap.
- These can be taken down for daytime.
- S.L.E.E.P. (need I say more?)
What You’ll Need:
- Black fleece at least 12 inches wider and 10 inches taller/longer than the window
- Suspension rod
- Sewing machine (you could do it by hand, but it would take awhile)
- Black thread (confession: I didn’t have black, so I used navy blue. Shhh. Don’t tell!)
What to Do:
- Fold the top of the material down to about 5 inches and pin it.
- Sew a straight line, about 3 1/2 inches from the top…
- Sew another straight line, about 2 inches from the top, then remove pins.
- Insert the suspension rod between the two lines.
- Hang it in the window and arrange the extra material at the top to block as much light as possible (that’s why you made a pocket with two lines, rather than just one line).
There you go! That’s it! Check out these before and after pictures. I’d say that the black fleece blocks about 95% of the light!
Without the Blackout Curtain
With the Blackout Curtain
Pretty impressive, huh? One of the things I love about this project is the fleece. There’s no need to hem the edges and you only need one layer. This project literally takes only a few minutes (unless your sewing machine turns into an evil torture device, which mine did for the first curtain. Grrr….)
Do your kiddos wake before you’re ready for them to? Have you tried blackout curtains?
Linked-up at:
- Christina’s Adventures: 20 Below Thursdays
- The Shabby Creek Cottage: Transformation Thursday
- A Glimpse Inside: Catch a Glimpse
- Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday
- Life as Mom: Frugal Friday
- Organic Aspirations: Eco Kids
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Wow!!! Those are awesome! I’m keeping those in mind for later…when I dig all my stuff out.
They’re WONDERFUL!!! The girls slept until after 7 this morning!
Great idea! Pinning this for later! I want my boys to SLEEP!!!
Emily
http://www.weakandloved.com/
LOL, I’m with you on that!
Let me know how it works for you!
Wow. I could really use these for the same “early bird” children issue! Also, we are really interested in moving to Alaska (okay, not for 4 years but we need that time to prepare, LOL!) and these just made my day because 24 hr sun might make for a cranky mama and kiddos!
We would LOVE to move to Alaska! I don’t suppose you could stash us in one of your boxes, huh?
Thanks so much for the comment! I hope these work as well for you as they have for us.
We need to do this! It would be great for naptime too.
It does help with naps! I’m so glad I made these!
Brilliant… Absolutely brilliant
This may be a special question, but because they are fleece do you think they might help with some electric bills as well?
Aww, thanks Sonnie! Actually, we have a hard time keeping the baby’s room the same temperature as the rest of the house (3 exterior walls make that hard to do!) and this curtain seems to be helping with that. I don’t know how much it’s helping, but it is better than it was.
That is good to know! We have the same thing with our baby’s room as well… Definitely considering this! Thanks!
Oh I am SO going to do this! It’s a good morning if my 2 1/2 year old sleeps until 6 am! I already wasn’t a morning person to begin with, but with me EBF our almost 3 month old who still wakes up twice at night to nurse, I have been one sleepy Momma! Thanks so much for posting!
I hope it helps a ton!! I know how sleep-deprivation can make everything so much more difficult. Congrats on your new little one and thanks for the comment, Lisa!
I made some of these, too! They’re so great…I even use them at naptime!
That’s wonderful! Thanks for letting us know!
This is brilliant! I’m definitely going to plan on doing this in our boys’ room.
Thanks, Anne! I hope you love them as much as we do!
I love this! I have black out blinds in my bedroom that came with the house. They don’t roll up anymore but I don’t want to spend money to replace them either. I wonder if thismwould work with a dark purple fleece since my bedroom is painted in eggplant purple?
I’m sure it would! I’d love to see a picture, if you do it.
Thanks so much for commenting, Lydia!
Oh wow! Very good idea! Thanks for sharing your post with us at Eco-Kids Tuesday. Hope to see you back today! http://likemamalikedaughter.blogspot.com/2013/02/melt-my-heart-eco-kids-tuesday.html
We sure love them!
Thanks for the comment and for hosting the link-up!
THank you so much for this idea! My fiance has to work the midnight shift, and its so hard for him to sleep during the day. This will help a whole lot. Gonna make some tomorrow. Again, THANK YOU!
Thanks so much for the comment, Diane! I hope this helps him sleep better!!