Help needed with blackout lining

[SlightlyTubbyHali]

I'm making some roman blinds and ordered the fabric over the phone. I asked them to send me some blackout lining. In the past when I have bought blackout lining it has been from JL and has basically seemed like a thicker version of normal lining. But what has arrived at my home is called "bonded blackout lining" which is thicker, almost like thin wadding.

Will this stuff work for roman blinds? Will the blind look sharp when folded or ought I to pay JL a visit?

Thanks

[plupervert]

If you are using dowels across the curtain, and sew through the blackout lining as well, it could fold properly, but softly. The pleats don't have to be that sharp, do they?

BTW, if you get them done soon, they sound as through they will really insulate your windows in this cold weather!

[SlightlyTubbyHali]

Thanks Plupervert - I spent yesterday wrestling with the stuff and actually I think it is going to work quite well (including keeping the room warmer - the current curtains are unlined and crap). It's too stiff for the pockets though so I found some ivory calico and have been using that for them. Looks great so far (not hung yet though...), and possibly I might use it again in future.

[plupervert]

That's good news! I ended up using webbing tape to make the pockets; I needed about 2 lots of 2 m (if in the packs sold by John Lewis).

I know what you mean about wrestling with it, though. I think the coating which they apply to blackout lining messes up the neat lines of warp and weft, and it's so difficult to cut in a straight line when you don't have those to guide you!

[tb]

Just another tip for blackout material, I bought some from Ikea to make a blind for dd's bedroom window when she was a baby. The material was slightly rubberised, and the stitches allowed pin-pricks of light to come through. Had I known, I would have glued the hem at the bottom to hold the batten.

[SlightlyTubbyHali]

I've had that happen before TB, with a curtain - very irksome.

This stuff seems a bit different because it has a layer of the plasticky blackout stuff stuck to what I assume is a thick thermal layer (a bit like wadding) and I am hoping that the fluff will cover up the holes!

I've also found - on the Pretty Frills website- that you can buy a roll of pre-cut and folded fabric to use as pockets. Since I have 6 more blinds to do that might be a sensible economy.

Oh, and I hung the blind and it looks fantastic! (Ignoring a slightly wonky hem) Actually I wonder whether the lining is better than the normal thinner version I've used in the past because the blind looks more substantial somehow. Anyway, very pleased with it.