Cafe Curtains are a great way to block the sun while you're sitting and give privacy, while still allowing light into the room.

For these curtains, my window was 46 inches and I decided to go with an interior mount curtain.  To allow for overlap, pleats, and seam allowances, I purchased the fabric 2 1/2 yards long.  From there I cut a long panel to cover just over half of the window.  I measured out 24 inches, with an additional inch on either side for seam allowances (total - 26 inches).

After that, I cut the long panel in half, making two shorter panels.  


 Fold fabric over marked card-stock to 1/2 inch and press.  Repeat and pin in place.  Sew a straight seam down the middle of the fold.

Sew this same hem along all four edges of the fabric.


For the pleats, I kind of made them up as I went along - I wanted to center the flower in the front of each pleat.  I pinched, tucked, and pinned until I had the look I was going for.


Once I found what I liked, I measured everything to make sure it was all even, and pinned it into place.


The sewing machine I was using was being a little bit persnickety, so I ended up sewing the pleats by hand.   Obviously, the sewing machine would be faster, but it wasn't too bad.  The important thing to remember is to start at the same spot on each pleat and to sew all the way to the edge of the fabric. 



After sewing all of the pleats, I opened them all out and pressed them flat, stopping about 1/3 of the way down the fabric.  





For a traditional Cafe Curtain look, I decided to attach each panel to the curtain rod with little rings.  I bought little rings with clips on them, but after putting them all on, I decided that I didn't like the way the clips looked.  I took off the clips and sewed the rings directly onto the curtains.  I love it and it looks so much more professional that way!