Curtain advice - I need a 'mum'

Colliewobble_2

Hi all,

Hoping you practical lot will be able to advise.

I'm currently moving into my first house and need to borrow a mum for a mo - mine passed away seven years ago, and dads are no good with soft furnishings!

I have two big bay windows - front lounge and upstairs bedroom. Both measure about 330cm/129inches wide.

Now I haven't found any ready made curtains to fit, but Dunelm do some nice ones and I have been advised to buy two pairs per window.

There's not much room either side of the window for swathes of curtain fabric when they are open as the windows are roughly the full width of the rooms, so I don't want too much 'fullness' but equally I want them to look good when shut.

So, do you think I could get away with a 52" and a 78" (makes 130" per side) which is obviously 2x the curtains, or would that look too 'tight' when shut?

It would cost an extra £23 to get two pairs of 78" which would give me 156" or just under 2.5x width.

What is the general principle of curtain measurements?

Sorry if I'm not making any sense - but I'd be really grateful for some advice.:A

Many thanks in advance,

CW

Barneysmom

Hello Colliewobble, go for the biggest possible width you can afford, otherwise you'll wish you had by next week
Curtains look so much nicer with a lot of gather, and they'll be much warmer too. Get as heavy as you can too.

zzzLazyDaisy

I would buy a set of curtains to fit the side windows and a set to fit the large front window (I'm assuming the bays are square/ish?)

Colliewobble_2

Hi

Thanks for your replies. They're not 'proper' bays - they are kind of half bays - a big long stretch with a shallow curve at one end, if that makes sense.

:-)

Thanks again,

CW

Bobbykins

HI Colliwobble. I think it depends on what type of heading you want. I was always told if it was "pencil pleat" heading, you know, the really gathered ones? then the total curtain width had to be twice the size of the window. For normal, slightly gathered heading, it was one and a half times the width.
Now I know those are old fashioned type headings, it's all tab tops and eyelet holes now, but I would still say you need at least one and a half times width so that they don't look too tight when closed.
Maybe other people do it differently these days, but I hope that helps anyway.

scotrae

Have you seen the 'how to make curtains stretch?' thread? I got some really useful hints from it.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2071675&highlight=curtains+stretch

HTH.

zippychick

Hi Collie. I tried to make curtains about 8 years ago and bought the material the actual size of the window (instead of leaving extra ?) . They are stil up to this day:o

I don't have a clue how to answer your question, just wanted to send you a hug for needing a Mum. This place is my "Gran" if you know what i mean:A

xxx

HRV

We did what you said about buying 2 pairs from dunelm- our bays are squarish. We bought a large pair and smaller pair. In total came to 25 quid isH- they were in the sale last jan. So maybe (if you can) wait till the sale and have a look. They were the posh ones- fully lined etc that they handg up on hangers:j

Iheart2poundcoins

Bobbykins wrote: »

HI Colliwobble. I think it depends on what type of heading you want. I was always told if it was "pencil pleat" heading, you know, the really gathered ones? then the total curtain width had to be twice the size of the window. For normal, slightly gathered heading, it was one and a half times the width.
Now I know those are old fashioned type headings, it's all tab tops and eyelet holes now, but I would still say you need at least one and a half times width so that they don't look too tight when closed.
Maybe other people do it differently these days, but I hope that helps anyway.

I've always gone one and a half times too.

tandraig

second that - one and a half times the width minimum if you have tab or eyelet tops - if you have the drawstring type then you need twice the width minumum (but they look better if you can go to two and half times the width. does this make sense?) also, when it comes to length make sure you measure from just above the rail to the length you want add a couple of inches to allow for shrinkage when washing them. and they look better puddled slightly on floor i think!

lolarentt

Yes I know I'm a bloke so not qualified in this area, however I can quote my ex-wife, and her mother, who was a professional in this field, and it was always one and a half width of curtains for the window width