What do you get when you mix a roll of brown and white grosgrain ribbon with a waffle weave extra-long shower curtain?
Something really special and pretty for a newly done bathroom. I found this ribbon at Hobby Lobby and after seeing this Target extra-long shower curtain that Young House Love used in their bathroom, I had to order one for my new bath. I’m liking the simplicity of this waffle weave fabric and I didn’t want a plain normal sized shower curtain for this room. The ceilings in here are 9 feet, so the extra tall just looks better in this space. 
My niece, Lauren, was sweet and monogrammed the middle of it for me on her handy-dandy machine. Love it, thank you, Lauren! That’s my Christmas present and I couldn’t be happier with it. So, all I did was lay out the shower curtain, measured in 6 inches (thought that was a good amount in) and started laying out the ribbon. I used the lines in the waffle fabric to follow a straight line, gluing with fabric glue as I went along. When I got to a corner, I did a simple miter cut.
Glue those corners together and keep on going! You will probably do a better job with your corners than I did, but I figured no one is going to inspect this thing now that it’s hung up. If you spend a little time on it, you can get those corners lined up pretty well. Mine are definitely not perfect.
Now it’s hung up and I think it looks fabulous! A great way to add some extra pizazz to a plain shower curtain. 
After it’s hung, you may need to go back and add a little fabric glue under some edges. But, mine stuck pretty well. 
I love the extra length on this. 
I’ll even show you the boo-boo I did. I started at the top left corner, came down, across, and up and back across and realized my measurement was off on my first corner, so I had to add a small little piece of ribbon back in for both pieces of ribbon to meet on the miter. Math was never my strong suit, but I can live with it. If you come to my house, don’t stare at the top of my shower curtain, please! 
It’s not that noticeable. If I feel like it, I will pick up another roll of ribbon and redo this strip, but I’m not counting on that. Did I tell you I’m not a perfectionist most of the time? I can live with “good enough”.
So, have you got a plain shower curtain that could use some pretty ribbon? my inspiration from this was from my other guestbath shower curtain, where I bought a black and white monogrammed curtain from Ballard’s. I figured I could add my own border with this pretty brown and white grosgrain ribbon and I do believe it looks just as good as the Ballard’s original, if not better. 
The waffle weave shower curtain came from Target online for about $25.00, well worth the price for the extra long version.
Go ahead and make that plain shower curtain a little more swanky!
I’m joining Kimba’s DIY Day.
Southern Living Christmas 2009 Book winner:
The very lucky winner of the Southern Living book giveaway is Sarah Robbins at Our Cozy Robbins Nest. Congrats, Sarah!! Hope you enjoy that Christmas book next year.
{ 67 comments… read them below or add one }
Good job!! You are SO creative!
Looks great Rhoda!
I love the simplicity of the waffle wave, and the ribbon. I need a friend, or relative with a embroidery machine, because Santa seems to forget to bring me one, every single year, and I do like monograms!
Rhoda
This looks great!
Very nice, Rhoda! I love this! The monogram is the perfect touch.
What a great idea!! And it’s definitely better than the store bought one- better proportions!
Rhoda,
That looks great! I like it better than the ballard’s one because the ribbon and monogramm are darker and more striking. Thanks for the inspiration.
Traci
I love it…..I actually have the same curtain and need to re-decorate that bath. I’m definitely going to try this! Great Job!
Looks great! The little boo-boo is something I’d do. I don’t think it’s our math skills at all, even though mine are non existent. Sewing something to something else shortens the first something more than we realize. So, see? T’wasn’t your fault at all!
love it…very Pottery Barnish.
that is gorgeous! (i didn’t know they made extra long ones)
LOVE THIS!!! And what do you know. . .one of the top 10 things I want to accomplish in 2010 is the master bath. . .thanks for getting me started!! This is great. . .thank you for sharing.
Loos great, similar to the one I bought from Ballards Designs —but your border looks much better!! Nice job!!
Wow! That looks really nice. Imperfection is what makes it perfect, I wouldn’t worry about the corner unless it really bothers you. Your $25 curtain looks like a $100 curtain. Great job! I might try this on the kids bathroom.
it looks great! I have the same shower curtain in my kids bathroom
i love it! it looks so professional and chic!!
I love monograms. This is a great DIY project Rhoda! It’s beautiful!
Your shower curtain is very swanky !! (Love the word.) I need to find somebody who has a machine to do that kind of monogramming. Hugs, Cindy S, (Thank you for your sweet comment yesterday on my blog)
What a great idea. I will be doing this to one of our bathrooms as soon as I can find a person to do the monogram. I love it when you share these ideas.
Heidi
Very elegant! Great job.
Beautiful………love this project. Rhoda, you are an inspiration!
I love it!! I have a plain white linen one in my kids’ bathroom that I wanted to do this with. I’ve had it for two years now and still haven’t done it! Thanks for the inspiration! Maybe I’ll get mine done, now!
This looks very “smart.” I love what you did with it. The crisp stripe against the crisp, waffle weave white is perfect, and I love the mono, too. Good job!
Wow! That’s gorgeous!! I may attempt this myself.
It looks fabulous, Rhoda! You did a great job!
xoxo
Janie
Looks great, Rhoda!
I looked all over for an extra long shower curtain when doing my bathroom mini redo.
I ended up making one. Oh well, more variety in fabric that way!
But, I love how yours turned out!
Love it Rhoda!
Rhoda -
You are so clever and creative. I wish you could bottle it and use it as a prize in a give-away! This is beautiful.
Question: Will the hot glue hold up to the steam/dampness of the shower?
- Deborah
Good ideas born and then shared make it double a blessing! and to make the idea even sweeter Santa
ordered through our quilt shop here (Painted Pony & Quilts)
a Janome embroidery machine for me. i am drooling
with ideas ; especially since it will hook up to the computer
for downloads! – think I will put this idea into that magic hat of ideas to be drawn out over the new year.
~~~~~~~~~~Best wishes to your 2010, you are a major
blessing of mine in 2009, oh a little rhyme
patti
This is just beautiful …. what a fun project for the New Year!
Love the look of the grossgrain ribbon, I can’t believe you are already doing projects right after Christmas,you are amazing. I feel as if my brain is fried. You keep us inspired,Have a Happy New Year,looking forward to more of what you have to show us,Hugs Kathysue
I actually already have the waffle-weave shower curtain up without the monogram and ribbon. Maybe I need another project… LOL
Really, it is beautiful!
Great job Rhoda and so simple to do! I’m off to show this to my daughter who moved into her brand new home just this past summer. After buying a new home there isn’t much money left for decorating so inexpensive yet fab ideas like this are the route to go. TFS! Sheila
What a brilliant idea for decorating a plain shower curtain. Wonderful. It turned out beautiful. Now I have to ask, can it be washed without coming apart?
Rhoda it is beautiful! Love the pretty monogram.
Hi Rhoda
Such a simple yet elegant shower curtain! I love it. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I pray for a healthy and prosperous new year for you.
Hugs, Rhondi
Lovely!!! I really like the ribbon you chose.
Have you been reading my thoughts? I’ve been looking for a longer shower curtain and I wanted to either find material and have one made or personalize one from a store. This is awesome, Rhoda. Thanks for sharing it with us. Now if only I had a Lauren with a handy dandy machine in my life!
Hey, girls! I’m glad you like this one and might even try it too. I love how it turned out.
A couple of questions answered:
Deborah, I used fabric glue, not hot glue, so it should hold up fine in there.
As far as washing it, I don’t plan to have to do that too often, since I have a clear liner inside, it shouldn’t get dirty. If I need to I can put it in dryer on low for fluffing, but really, I don’t think it will get very dirty. I’ll have to check that fabric glue & see if it is waterproof. May have to go back and add more.
Kathysue, oh that’s my little secret. I did this project between Thanksgiving and Christmas. My niece just finished it up Thanksgiving and gave it back to me so I could get the ribbon on there. I just got around to showing it!
I’m knee-deep in storage boxes, packing my Christmas away today. Yuuuk! My most un-favorite chore, but I’m making progress.
I cannot even begin to tell you how good that looks!!!!! I might have to give that a try!
Rhoda – it looks great! I’ve been trying to decide on a new shower curtain in our master bath that will work with what’s in the master bedroom. I do believe I’ll order one of those curtains.
You did a great job – and so did your niece. Love it!
tina
It’s wonderful. I do have an embroidery machine and I’m wondering where your niece got the lovely font. Thanks! Lisa~
It looks beautiful and better than the store bought one! Very clever and creative!
Teacup Lane (Sandy)
I resoundingly agree that yours looks better than the store-bought one. Everything about it is more generous, and therefore more striking. The weave is more textured, the ribbon wider and appears to have more body, and that monogram! Soooo much prettier, but I wouldn’t have realized that it could be better by just looking at the Ballard’s one. Bet you small every time that shower curtain catches your eye now!
WendyBee
Oops! That should be “smile” not “small” in the above comment. (Not all imperfections improve the whole….;)…)
WendyBee
Simple, classy, and perfect! Wow, I really like this.
Rhoda, I just went online to look at the shower curtain you purchased because I need a longer length too. There are several bad reviews on that curtain, so now I’m not sure I want to get it. There was one good review. But still, makes me hesitate. Please give us an update on your curtain if you ever wash it. Not sure how often I would do that especially if I put the ribbon on it. Also, do you think the fabric glue would ever come loose with the ribbon if the bathroom becomes damp and steamy? Thanks for any insight.
Love the shower curtain. It is gorgeous and looks sooooooooo expensive. What a great project. Hugs, Marty
You are so funny…pointing out your mistakes when none of us would even know that you had to do any fixing. That is why you are so inspirational, you let it show, warts and all and that reassures everyone it is O.K. if mistakes happen.
You model for everyone so that they will be brave and take the leap. That my dear, is a sign of a good teacher. You rock!
Rhoda, I love how you did this. My sister and I are going to do this to her guest bath soon. Her ceilings are 12′ so a standard shower curtain doesn’t look good- makes the bathroom look cut in half. I will have to check out the measurements on extra long shower curtains- we were planning on getting some Softline panels, sewing them together and then hanging them on a 2″ rod with inside mount brackets. The monogram and ribbon really jazz up your shower curtain! As always…looks beautiful!
So cute. you did a great job
Rhoda – this is so funny you posted this. I have the exact same shower curtain (love it, bought it about a year ago) – and I already have some brown satin ribbon to sew on. I also wanted a monogram, but do not have a neice handy that can do it.
I have a few ideas up my sleeve, though. Isn’t this the bestest shower curtain for the $? I hope to premiere my new “Before and After” shower curtain this Monday on Met Monday. Stop by if you get a chance. Hope you have a wonderful and safe New Year. Hugs, Barb
Just chiming in! I am so getting into monograms–just that little touch and the ribbon makes it look so elegant and special.
Blessings to you Rhoda,
Sindy
This was a great post about sprucing up a shower curtain. I did one years ago using ribbon and trim. It was a favorite but now we want something new!
I love it, Rhoda!
I own that exact shower curtain! It looks like I have a project for when I get back from vacay!
Your so creative!
Looks great Rhoda!
You now have a one of a kind, really cute shower curtain. Good idea.
Great job on the shower curtain! It looks very professional!
What a great DIY idea. I’d never have thought of that. I just wanted to also suggest an easy way to tie that look in to the rest of the bathroom is by using wall decals. They’ll stick to just about any surface so make decorating a bathroom really easy.
This is crazy..I was just thinking I need a new extra long shower curtain! Thanks for the super cute idea! I even have an embroidery machine I can monogram it with. Happy New Year!
This is gorg Rhoda ! Fabulous idea, and how lucky are you to be so well connected with a fabulous family member that can sew such high quality monograms. You are blessed !
Happy New Year my friend, can’t wait to meet at Blissdom !
Kate
Love it. How lucky that you have Lauren and her monogramming capabilities! That really finishes off the curtain perfectly.
I love the touch of the ribbon and monogram. It really takes this curtain to the next level and makes it personal. Nice work!
I have been looking all over the place for an XL shower curtain to cover my lovely blue bathtub. And it was right under my nose at Target! I have a shower curtain like your inspiration photo (mine’s from Pottery Barn) — we could have just traded! Haha.
It looks lovely in your bathroom! The ribbon and monogram add the perfect amount of detail. Waffle weave says bathroom to me.
This is a fabulous idea! I have a jack-n-jill bath that I am trying to figure out what to do with. I have one boy and one girl (and their rooms are respectively very boy and very girl). Now I know how to do the shower curtain. What size ribbon did you use?