Add a little whimsy with this easy project. A DIY outdoor scalloped valance will only take a weekend and will give your outdoor space a little extra “oomph”!

I fell down a rabbit hole of old hotel photographs — Miami, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, all 1940s and ’50s — and kept landing on the same detail: those scalloped poolside umbrellas. Something about that little curved edge makes a space feel like you’re on vacation.

So when I redesigned our own outdoor living space, I borrowed it. Not the umbrella — a valance. One weekend, a few yards of Sunbrella, and a bowl from my kitchen cabinet, and our outdoor kitchen finally had the posh-hotel wink I’d been chasing.

Here’s exactly how I made it, so you can too.

Read the Outdoor Pool and Living Spaces Reveal Post here

Supplies:

• Outdoor fabric (I chose Sunbrella brand)
• Chalk pencil
• Scissors
• Fray check
• Optional: Trim
• Cardstock or heavy grade scrapbook paper
• A bowl (for tracing)

Step 1:

For an 18-inch valance, one yard of 54-inch Sunbrella fabric covers about 52 inches of width. Measure your span, divide, round up. Any outdoor fabric will do- just pay attention to the width of the fabric and the width of your space.

Step 2:

Draw your circle. I chose to do a 12-inch circle so scrapbook paper worked perfectly. I know this isn’t scientific and you can go that route but I was in a hurry and grabbed a bowl that had a 12-inch opening and traced it (upside down). Next, I folded the circle in half and created a crease line, then I just cut along the crease line. Voila, I had a semi-circle perfect for tracing scallops!

Step 3:

Trace your scallop onto the valance using a tracing pencil. Find the center of your valance and mark it with a pin. Why should we start from the center? It helps insure we do not end up with a chopped half-scallop at one end.

Lay your scallop template where the bottom of the scallop lines up with the bottom of the valance. Trace. Move to either the left or the right and line up the template again but this time make sure the scallop not only line up with the bottom but is touching the scallop you just marked. It’s basically the same principle when you are stenciling.  Continue drawing out your scallops.

Click here for 10 more ways to celebrate Summer outdoors!

Step 4:

When all your scallops have been drawn out, Trace the drawn line with fray check. Allow fray check to dry then cut the scallops. The fray check works well but if you would like a more finished edge you may add trim, just make sure to spray it with a waterproof spray since it will be for outdoor use.

Step 5:

Hem the top and sides of your valance – use a sewing machine if you have the skills and iron-on hem tape if you don’t.

Step 6:

Apply the outdoor grade velcro and sew it to the top. Attach the other side to the area you wish to hang your valance. A brad nailer or stapler will secure the velcro. TIP: the adhesive-backed velcro tends to release its stickiness and you will find your valance decorating your patio floor. Make sure if you do not sew the velcro onto the scallop valance, hand sew or tack with a nylon thread. Do not use a stapler because over time the staples with rust.

Step 7:

Attach your valance!

Want to learn how to make outdoor curtain rods?