Mend Around Mildew

I have a fabric shower curtain liner that I love, because you can easily throw it in the wash. Inevitably, however, mildew and pink minerals stain the curtain, especially at the bottom hem.

My gut reaction is "Ew! Throw it away!" But if you have a sewing machine, you can quickly hem the shower curtain even faster than going to the store for a new one.

First, cut off that moldy hem (yuck!). The thick plastic strip inside that weights the bottom of the curtain is also stained, so I'm not trying to save that.

Next, fold the cut bottom of the curtain up about 1/2" (the width of the foot on your sewing machine) and sew the length of curtain. Fold again, and sew again, to hide the raw edge where you cut. This is the easiest hem, with just a long, straight line to sew.

Since we threw away the weighted strip from the bottom, we can optionally add weight by sewing buttons periodically across our new hem. I have tons of these collected from the "spares" that are sometimes included with sweaters.

My new hem only raised the bottom of the liner about 2", so it still falls below the edge of the tub by several inches. I could repeat this process a few more times before shortening the liner too much, giving me years more life out of it.

About 10 minutes of work saved me $10 on a new shower curtain liner. I like that hourly rate!