to think i could make curtains?

[Nooneyouwilleverknow]

Ok ive never touched a sewing machine in my life.

I have the horrible curtains because i just cant afford nice ones even second hand.

Sooo..my mum offered to buy me a sewing machine as she belives its investment and i could learn to alter dc clothes too.

Am i crazy to think i could do this. Im thinking a 'love your machine' course and youtube.

A good refurbished machine is better than a cheap basic one. I have two machines, a regular machine and an over locker, both Toyota. Curtain fabric can be expensive.Think outside the box... I made curtains out of duvet covers and used cheap sheets to line them. I also made a waistcoat for my son in law out of an ivory coloured table cloth. Charity shops are a good source for curtains, either to use as curtains or to use as fabric.

If the window is not too large, sari fabric comes in fabulous colours and can make beautiful curtains. The decorative edge could make a matching cushion cover.

The measuring and pinning are what takes time with curtains. The actual sewing is very easy because it's just straight lines. You need 1.5 to 2x width of window for material. If you ask in a local fabric shop they will help you figure out what you need.
Definitely worthwhile, I've saved ££££ making curtains. Blackout lining is very cheap too and worthwhile.
You can also look for curtains in charity shops and just take up the bottom

Do it! It isn't hard - fiddly if you are working with swathes of material on a tiny table and lounge floor (speaking from experience here!) I did it in our old house, just make sure you have a strong, sharp needle in your machine (and plenty of replacement needles - again spelling from experience!) oh and I was quite new to sewing when I did it.

Depending on your budget, Janome make a sewing machine model just for Costco. You would spend another £100 on a similarly spec'd machine from John Lewis.

Have a Google/search for sewing machine repair and service shops as they'll often have good refurbished machines.

I made a pair of curtains out of 2 fringed sarongs which was super easy.

Oh should say my machine was a Brother computerised FS40 - so mid range - I had a cheap Argos value machine and it was a pain to use (probably me but this brother is a dream to use!)

I just made my first ever curtains, for my baby's room. The think that a lot of people don't realise is that simple pencil pleat tops are very easy because all you do is stitch on a piece of curtain tape with two straight lines of stitching and then pull the cords to gather it.

However the measuring and cutting is much fiddler than the sewing and what I found tricky was manipulating large amounts of material so it didn't fall on the floor and pull my stitching, or get bunched up in the machine. A real life demo would have helped me get my head round that.

You also need a lot of space, either a very big table or a large clear area of floor, and don't skimp on the pinning and tacking before you start to machine sew. You'll need LOADS of pins.

It is very satisfying though. If you're a total sewing novice then practice first by sewing some small stuff like simple cushion covers, so that you get a feel for the thread tension, foot control pressure etc.

Do it! Curtains are super easy. The first thing I made was unlined curtains. Wide fabric, so just hand hemming and then curtain tape sewn on by machine.

Curtains are one of the easiest things to sew. Like most sewing, measuring accurately is the key. Make sure you have lots of space to work on. When I have very large projects I take over the dining room table!

I second pp who said janome is the best brand of machine. When I first started five years okay I had a singer. It was cluncky, jammed a lot. It really puts you off. I now have a janome dsk 500 and its a dream.