Arch window solution TUTORIAL

In our house the baby has the prettiest room. She has a huge vaulted ceiling, beautiful buttery yellow paint on the wall, and a giant 61X61 inch window topped with an arch window. I knew this would make a perfect nursery and it was...until the sunlight started streaming in directly on her crib making it impossible for her to nap! I have researched the options for such a window and none of them appealed to me, they were either too expensive or too ugly. Then I thought, you're a crafty lady, you can figure something out! Here is what I came up with:

This is a padded covering that completely blocks out the light, which makes the room more energy efficient and it's pretty too! Here's how I did it.

What you'll need:

1 piece of cardboard big enough to cover your window

1 yard pretty fabric (this is for my window, you may need more or less depending on the size of your window)

1 yard batting

1 yard muslin

hot glue gun

small nails (for installation)

First you have to measure your window and determine if it's a true semi circle. Measure the width of the window and the height at the center. If the height is half the width you probably have a half circle. I used cardboard as the base because A) I had it, B) you can cut it with scissors and C) it's light, so if it ever fell down it couldn't hurt anyone. First cut the cardboard to fit your window (make sure it fits before you do anything else!). Duct tape over the creases.

Use the cardboard as your template to cut your next piece, the batting. Lay the cardboard on the batting and cut leaving an extra 2 inches all the way around.

Cut your pretty fabric the same size as the batting. It may be necessary to sew two pieces of fabric together to accomplish this. It was necessary for me because I have a hearts pattern and I didn't want my hearts going sideways! Make sure you press the seam allowances out.

Next cut your muslin the same size as your cardboard.

Next you need to lay your batting on top of your cardboard. Start from the middle and hot glue it on. Make sure you go around the edges. Then flip your cardboard over and glue the excess batting to the back of your cardboard, stretching it slightly as you go. ***WARNING*** there is a great risk of hot gluing your fingers while doing this step, just ask my left thumb! I recommend getting a board to hold the batting in place after it's been glued.

Do the same thing you just did with your batting with your pretty fabric, making sure it's pulled taut and smooth. You should have something looking like this:

You could stop here, but then the world would be able to see that you rigged something with cardboard. I don't know about you but I don't mind using cardboard but I don't want people to *know* I used cardboard. So this next step is to make it look presentable from the outside.

Hot glue the muslin to the back of your project. Trim as you go if needed so that the muslin doesn't overlap the other side. And....

TA-DA!!! You're done! My dear sweet husband installed this for me, basically he put tiny nails around the window frame, leaving them a half inch out. Then slide it in from the bottom. YAY! All done! This is the first of many projects I'm doing in the baby's room. Stay tuned!