Curtain Fabric

hendersonb

We need curtains for out 2 bedrooms, ideally blackout and thermally lined, where is the cheapest for material? We have 3 large windows approx 2m x 3m but want the curtains to drop to the floor meaning 2m x 3.8m. The ceilings are very high if your wondering and windows are secondry glazed old sash windows.

We'd like brown and/or gold curtains possibly different rooms.

It seems very expensive for curtains of this size as i can't find any with a long enough drop off the shelves


Thanks


Brian

daska

It's not going to be cheap because it's a minimum of 8m of plain material per window and that will be flat curtains with a skimpy hem.

Is this a stop-gap or a live with it for 20 years scenario? If a stop-gap then how about making your own with sheeting? It won't cut out all the light but it will give you privacy.

However, if you've got to live with your choice for a long time then, to treat these windows well, IMHO at that size it would be foolish to economise and not have a decent weight fabric, lined and interlined. The lining helps protect the main fabric from light damage, the interlining will help insulate the windows. Cheaper options would be tab heading (loops that thread directly onto the pole but need less gather than pencil pleat or other fancier styles).

Alternatively you could opt for blinds and false curtains, this would give you a more generous look (higher making charges but less on fabric).

Do you have radiators under the windows?

Mutter_2

Agree with daska. Nothing looks better than interlined curtains, especially of silk or taffeta.
A lot of work and bulk to handle if making them yourselves.
I looked on ebay but too many to link, though did glimpse a blackout fabric, so no lining needed.

I'm in the process of ordering cream blackout roller blinds, and having false curtains, i.e decoration only, not to be drawn. You can always glue trim to the blind to tie in with curtains, and layering always looks good.

Here are two of my favourite curtain material sites.

http://www.curtainfabricsonline.com/proddetail.php?prod=silkflocktaffeta&cat=7

http://www.curtainfactoryoutlet.co.uk/

hendersonb

My wife's mum used to make curtains for a living so getting them made isn't too much of a problem. With the shape of the windows - kinda mini-bay i guess - it's an old sandstone building so the windows are kind of inset. So because of that we can't have blinds or the secondary glazing won't open. There is a clearance at the top of the windows of around 1cm max.

We are hoping to be living here for the next 5 years or so atleast.

In the small room there is a radiator under the window.

The bedrooms get very cold at night because of the windows - mainly due to the large surface area I think. Which is the reason for wanting a thermal pair of curtains.

Directly opposite the house we have a lovely street lamp :mad: stopping the room from getting dark at night. At the moment we have ikea curtains up with a 3m drop - this comes to roughly the same hight as the window ledge.

But because of the inset windows the distance from curtains to windows is about 15"

To give you some more idea of what we need.

I can't afford to spend £80 per window at the moment i.e £10 per metre Especially with 3 large windows to do - The other small window is only maybe 72" drop but ideally it would be done with the same fabric.

Thanks

Brian

Mutter_2

On the first link, curtains online there are some lovely gold taffetas @£3.99. I doubt you'd get cheaper than that.

babybimbles

Im in the same predicament. I need a drop of around 300 cm if not a little bit more and it looks like curtains will cost around £300 to be made up looking at Next, Dunelm Mill etc.

I like the layering look but I need voiles/nets for privacy as our street is very busy.

Can anyone recommend best place to get made to measure curtains? Thanks x

hendersonb

babybimbles wrote: »

Im in the same predicament. I need a drop of around 300 cm if not a little bit more and it looks like curtains will cost around £300 to be made up looking at Next, Dunelm Mill etc.

I like the layering look but I need voiles/nets for privacy as our street is very busy.

Can anyone recommend best place to get made to measure curtains? Thanks x

For 300cm drop - Ikea sell them in this length however they were rather basic if memory serves. Depends what you are looking for.

Fire_Fox

Blackout lining and thermal lining are practically the same thing, I read somewhere that blackout is actually better at keeping heat in than thermal lining! I have Argos fake suede curtains in my bedroom and it drapes and keeps the light out very well (I have insomnia so need it dark). Argos have much the same in brown and in long drops, but you'd want to interline yourself to make them really warm.