To not make my own curtains

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We have finally finished a massive renovation of a derelict property. DH thinks we should make our own curtains. I'd normally have a go at most things, but my issues are:

• We still have multiple other things that need completing
• Our attempts might look amateur and let the rest of the finish down
• The cost of material, black out material, sewing machine etc let alone time, might end up costing more
• There are over 35 windows of various sizes/shapes and a massive bifold
• Neither of us have used a sewing machine in 30yrs (and that was in home economics)

Good grief, no! Unless you actually know what you are doing it’s going to end up looking pretty amateurish and this is something you’ll be looking at on a daily basis. It will be a false saving because the material alone will be a lot. Get a professional in if you want them made to measure. They look good and last well.

Is the Royal We meaning you?

No, sewing is an expensive hobby, especially if you don’t already have a decent machine. Fabric is expensive, and you may find you need an industrial sewing machine to get a consistently good finish with heavy fabrics.
Plus it will take up more time and space than you expect.

I've made curtains. It's not that hard (I got a good book from the library!), and I was inspired by a) the price of buying them and b) having long windows that are a bit too big for standard sizes, hence not much choice and higher cost.

35 windows would be a challenge - but then the cost savings would be huge.

I'm more than capable, but it's not worth it.

What is useful is being able to adjust readymade or secondhand curtains to fit your windows.

I have done. I wished I hadn’t. They were absolutely fine but it was an utter pain and surprisingly expensive. I second a vote that you buy second hand and alter them if you can?!

Tell him to crack on.

If you were keen then I'd suggest you compromise. Buy good curtains for the main rooms, and maybe run a few cheaper ones up for places less often seen and don't need heavy curtains.

But if you're not keen I wouldn't do that.

Curtains he thinks. Four straight lines. Easy to sew.

I sew a reasonable amount and I hate doing curtains. You need to get the edges absolutely straight. You pin them, you sew them... and then there's a little wobble in the edge which you know you will spot every time you go past. So you unpick it... and then the resew is no better.
Walls aren't straight, curtain rails aren't straight. The two identical curtains don't meet properly in the middle when hung although on the floor they're identical lengths.
The blackout lining sticks while you sew it and rotches up along the seam.
The corner doesn't look quite sharp enough...
You get the picture.

Honestly fabric is expensive some of the fabric I purchased was £30 per m, and that wasn’t even the most expensive stuff.

As are sewing machines a decent one is a good £500-700 (I may be a bit of a machine snob)

Whilst they aren’t hard to make, they can be time consuming

Most of the time it’s cheaper to buy them than make them!

As a someone who sews, don't do it! I'm far from expert, but you'll need a lot of space just from the sheer size of each panel - a cheap sewing machine won't probably cut it. If there is something you don't like about them, you'll always notice it.
Have a look what you can pick up in a charity shop - I got a pair of extra long curtains for £6!!

Dear God, of course YANBU. I have had my own house for over 30 years and have never made a single curtain. And never will! I mean, why would I, when there are competent professionals out there?

Plus fabric is expensive - most places sell it by the half metre too, so at first glance it looks cheap, but you're talking at least £12-15.00 for a metre for half decent quality.

I have made curtains myself in the past but now I’m older I can’t be doing with the faff.

Ebay is your friend. So, so many people like changing their curtains and you can get them on EBay cheaper than just the cost of the fabric would be.

You can get Next, Dunelm etc ready made curtains cheap as chips, but also beautiful bespoke ones at a reasonable price. It they’re too long you can shorten them, or do what I did and pin them to length and never get round to the sewing part.

I've always made my own curtains until recently - it's actually easy, it's all strifht line
BUT I've just replaced the living room curtains and my bedroom curtains with ready made - they're lovely & I couldn't make them for that price. Lined & good quality.

Also there used to be loads of places to buy curtain material, now there's hardly any & it's all really expensive - IMO material is something you need to see & feel before buying to make sure the colours, weight & texture are what you want.

Curtains are bloody hard to make and you need a very big flat surface (or clear space on floor) even for a pretty normal sized bedroom window. They have pleats and corners and lining and perfectly straight lines. I have made curtains that hang well and look good but to be honest I’d rather make my own wedding dress than curtains for 35 windows.

Please don't just machine stitch up straight lines.

I've made curtains before now. Took forever and you need a large floor space to deal with overlaying lining and spacing.

If you're not lining them , they'll look shit.

I make curtains whenever we need or want new ones, but I've been sewing for 45 years. No way should you attempt it without a bit of sewing experience.

Also the equipment required would be quite expensive - cutting board, decent scissors etc. Do you even have a reasonable sewing machine? Doing on a ropey one will be a horrible experience. You also need space to lay the fabric out.

If your windows are big and you know how to use a machine you could save into 4 figure sums on each window. Making your own also means you can upgrade blackout/thermal linings as you wish, and will generally work our way cheaper than made to measure.

However, if your windows are small and you're fine with whatever Ikea/John Lewis/dunelm have then this can work out just fine. There may still be quite a bit of adjusting lengths etc to fit for a really professional look it so can still need work and some skill if you're picky about it.

Tell your husband fabric is really expensive and you need alot more than you think, plus lining, header tape etc etc! I'd maybe make one or two if I really fell in love with a particular fabric but in your situation I'd definitely buy them. IKEA have extra long ones but there's so many places you can get lovely curtains now.
I'd put something in the bedroom or I wouldn't be able to sleep but would leave the rest until the end when you can decide what colours and style fits the rooms best.

EBay for old Laura Ashley curtains, loads are really long and you’ll get premium curtains for cheap.

I've made curtains before and (with a few caveats) it's not rocket science, especially if you are doing lined curtains (I know that sounds harder but its actually easier re: a good quality finish as you sew them inside out and then turn them).

I did it because I could, had the time and it meant I could afford nicer fabric.

Re: your post I'd echo pp's though as it is this "we should" or "you should". That's a lot of windows and a lot of work....

My caveats:

• you do need a decent sewing machine but more importantly you need space. It's a lot of fabric to cut/handle so you need a large flat surface and the floor isn't ideal unless you have shares in back pain pharma.

• unless you are a pro you need to choose fabric carefully. Obviously patterns can be hard to match if you need to join fabric to get the width. You'll also need to understand patten matching to order the right amount of fabric in the first place. Bad pattern matching definitely looks "cheap".

• also re: fabric some is much easier to sew than others. As confident as I am I wouldn't put my hand to silk curtains- I got mine made. Slippy fabric that needs interlining - nightmare. Also anything with embroidery on it can be very tricky.

• think about what finish you want. Sewing on a standard curtain tape for "normal" pleats isn't hard, but again if you want something more decorative you need to be very exact about measurements (sorry can't think of the name but the tapes that give you more decorative pleats).

• if you don't want tape at all and use metal rings then this sounds easy but IME is harder than it looks. You can get kits to do this but it's a one time deal. Punch out in the wrong place and your curtains look a mess as the inset rings are not level.

I found making standard pleat lined curtains in plan or large patterned formats fine and using a pelmet (easy to make) they looked beautiful.

But I had (at that time) the space and time to do it in a room set up for that purpose with a HUGE table and iron etc.

Would I do it again - maybe for a small window - but if the fabric I wanted was in any way challenging I'd hand over to the experts.

So my advice would be to think carefully about it and maybe consider borrowing a sewing machine and tackling a small window first in plan fabric and see how your husband gets one 😀 after all his idea - when he's done that successfully you both can consider more complex projects.

As someone who sews, they are boring as hell! We just did renovation and I went to the sale at dunelm as it was cheaper than buying the fabric. I had to take one or two up. On some of the awkward Windows I repurposed old curtains into Roman blinds. Also be warned cutting straight line on fabric can be difficult if you don't have the space to work in.

35 windows? Are you mad? Curtains are such a chore. You’ll be there for months.
I sew a lot, always have done and I have a decent Bernina machine but there’s no way I would put myself through that.
There’s loads of curtains on eBay, really expensive fabulous ones for a fraction of the cost of the fabric. I got some lined and interlined yellow real silk long ones for my Victorian windows for £75. I couldn’t have got the fabric for that never mind the linings, tape and thread.

If you just want something at the windows, you can buy from IKEA cheaper than sewing it.

If you want something that looks posh and finished, again a professionally made curtain won't be that much more than DIY and the edges etc will be perfect.

Listen to MargaretThursday!
All of this PLUS long lengths of fabric can arrive off-grain and need expert stretching. If it's a natural fabric you'll want to pre-shrink by washing and ends can ravel, you pay for twice as much fabric if doing lining (admittedly lining fabric is cheaper per metre). And the lining and main fabric can have different shrinkage rates. If you want blackout or thermal linings there go your costs again!
You will spend on a sewing machine but you'll also need a massive table to work across. I used to make curtains for friends and I'd have to put three leaves in the dining table to get it to twelve-seater and it would still pull and hang wrong off the edges!
Just find some second hand: chain store ones are all over vinted and ebay and there are a few specialist resellers for "grand" ones for period homes. Good luck.