Curtains, very wide window, small budget

kunekune

Hi, not sure this is the right board for the question but you seem to be householdy types here!

I am looking at renting a house that does not have curtains. As it is a rental, having them made specially is not an option. However, three of the rooms have massive windows: 3.9m!!! Even the shops that say they have extra-wide don't have any made to measure curtains this size.

I was wondering whether I could just buy four curtains for each window and sew two together to make a double width? THe other advantage of that would be that afterwards, I would have curtains that would probably fit another house, and I could take advantage of lower prices for standard sizes.

Has anyone tried this? is there some reason why it might not work? Would it work better with tabs or eyelets than with pencil pleats (I was wondering how the cords through the eyelets would cope).

The alternative would be to give up on the property!!!

Cheers,

Fran

Hapless_2

Hi I have 3m windows and managed to get some 90" (approx 2 metres each) wide curtains from a local ex catalogue shop type place.

lindens

My friends house has wide windows and she just has 4 pairs at each window. She doesn't even bother sewing them together, as they are gathered you cant really tell.

kunekune

I've got a vague memory now that when I was a child the bay window had four curtains and they weren't joined together. I'm not a tie back sort of person so that isn't an issue. OK, so this doesn't look like a reason to turn the house down. Thanks.

Bogof_Babe

That's what we have at our bedroom window. Two pairs, drawn two each side. It's quite handy as if I am reading in bed and want extra light I can draw three at the far end so there is only one at the bedhead end. I've never thought it was odd, possibly because my parents' house had big bay windows with four curtains at each one.

Plum_Pie

Maybe you could sk for some on Freecycle? I imagine there are other houses in your area which have the same shape windows!

kunekune

Unfortunately, probably not: this is a new build in a town where there are mostly terraces. But I'll have a look, and there is always ebay. At least there is carpet in it (and I am thinking that the windows will put off other prospective tenants too, which can only be good for us). I've spotted some good prices on some web sites, so it's not too daunting.

embb

lindens wrote: »

My friends house has wide windows and she just has 4 pairs at each window. She doesn't even bother sewing them together, as they are gathered you cant really tell.

What lindens said. Just buy two pairs and don't even bother sewing them together cause you can't tell, I did the same when I had 11ft windows

divorcingjack

Our windows are exactly the same and we got four curtains from IKEA and hung them all on the same pole - they are the ones with big metal eyelets.

I haven't bothered sewing them together, and I think they look really good. We got them in the sale, and I'm sure they were less than £10 per pair. They are chocolate brown and quite heavy material.

I'm in the middle of trying to figure out making roman blinds as buying them that size in nice material is SOO expensive.:eek:

No doubt I'll be on here begging for help once I've sewed the material to my trousers or sometghing equally stupid.

dj

annie-c

I currently have 2 pairs of IKEA curtains in my front bay and they look really good. Only thing is I wish I had taken the trouble to line them but they are up now and are staying!


I sewed 2 together for each side. First I opened one seam on each curtain and also opened the top part in order to pin them. Then I sewed with a sewing machine and ironed the seams flat before hanging. I also cut them to an appropriate length and re hemmed the bottom, sewing the hem rather than using the sticky hemming stuff they provide. I took my time, had a helper to make sure they were pinned and ironed correctly before sewing and they look fab. The first sewing job I have done since I was in school with a £50 machine from Tesco! I am even thinking that when I can afford better ones I may buy the fabric and have a go myself! I am certainly using my machine to make simple cushions now! But I could not have bought the amount of fabric I needed, even cheap fabric for the money I paid for the IKEA ready made ones... so a definite good first pair!

I also bought the cheapest IKEA 'voiles' to go with them. £3.50 a pair and I put 3 voiles acrodd my bay window. Didn't sew those as they are lightweight and will not be drawn anyway.

jcr16

i don't see anything wrong in buying 2 set's. i have done in my bedroom. i havent sewn them together and u would never know.

try freecycle , ebay , charity shops or even local material shops they may be selling material off for poss £1 a meter.