Easy Upcycled DIY Curtain Tiebacks

The window in my office is right over my shoulder when I’m sitting at the computer, so most of the time I have to keep my curtains closed. But in the winter it’s so important to see that little bit of light that is out there, I decided I needed a curtain tie back.

We’d been talking about the need for one in the girl’s room as well, so I dove into my stash of old clothes I’ve saved for crafty purposes and came up with a couple of quick upcycled wasy to make curtain tiebacks.

What You’ll Need

• some kind of fabric (one of mine is from an old T-shirt, one a pair of jeans)
• scissors
• peel and stick Velcro, or a button if you want to get fancy

The T-Shirt DIY Curtain Tieback

To make the tieback for the girl’s room, I cut out a strip from an old shirt of hers (the bottom features in the really bad photos on my ever-popular post on lengthening a shirt with another shirt). I made it about 2 inches wide but it doesn’t matter that much.

Depending on the length around of your shirt, you may need to cut along one seam to make the tie longer, then trim to the length you need.

Place sticky-backed Velcro on the T-shirt where you want the pieces to stick together. I put one one each end and one on each side so the tie lies flat when you use it.

To use, just gather up your curtain and attach the tieback, securing with the Velcro.

Add embellishments like felted flowers, fabric appliques, buttons, embroidery, whatever you like. Or leave it plain. This one will be getting some embellishments, no doubt.

Make a Curtain Tieback from Old Jeans

The version I made for my office is out of a piece of old jeans instead of a T-shirt, to show another option if you don’t happen to have a stockpile of old toddler T-shirts lying around.

This one I cut to 3 inches wide and about 10 inches long.

Then I picked out a button and cut a slit in one side for the buttonhole.

Because my button doesn’t have holes, I went ahead and used the sticky Velcro again to apply the button to the opposite side of the tieback. But you could sew it on if you’d rather or if your button has holes the Velcro would show through.

I deliberately used a worn edge of the denim and look forward to it getting more frayed as time goes on. If you don’t like that look you could fold over the edges and secure with fabric glue (or sew, if you want).

Other DIY Curtain Tieback Options

For another no-sew option, try cutting your tieback out of felt or fleece.

And if you don’t mind a sewing project, though it will take a little longer, you could cut two pieces of fabric a little bigger than you need them to allow for seams. Fold and press over the edges and sew together — with or without batting between them — as in the door jammer pattern.

You could even still use elastic on one end (though a smaller piece) and use that as your “buttonhole.” Then sew a button on the other side.

Have you upcycled anything lately? I’d love to hear about it!