Sewing experts...

[brightonbirdy]

How easy would it be to convert these curtains to pencil pleat curtains?

I want them at both ends of my lounge but can only accommodate pencil pleat at one end because of the position of the door.

I am a sewing novice by the way...

I am certainly no expert but you'd need to be sure you can get them wide enough - if I remember from reading about it once (never had the bottle to do it!) pencil pleat curtains need a lot more fabric. Width should be length of pole times 1.5 for standard pleats and times 2.5 for pencil pleat according to my book. I presume you cold just cut off the eyelet top and hem it, stitching it to the heading tape and gathering it up? So you'd lose a bit of length too

Totally agree with housemum: expect to lose 10-15 cm off the length to cut off the eyelets and fold over. On the other hand, pencil pleat curtains sit lower relative to the curtain pole, so that will make up some of the difference. And yes, you will need extra width to compensate for the fullness of pencil pleat curtains.

Otherwise it's not exactly difficult, but anything to do with curtains is always cumbersome, and you'll want a reliable sewing machine to attach the header tape. It's a case of cutting off the old top, square and straight, and I expect you'll want to zig-zag over the raw edge to stabilise it. Then fold it over and press, again: square and straight. Pin curtain heading tape along the top of the back of the curtains (lining side), folding it's raw ends under. Then you just have to sew straight lines along the tape, between the cords: it'll be clearly visible, so not difficult. The only possible complication is that you'll be sewing through quite a few layers of fabric, and you need to trust your machine not to leave birds' nests on the underside, which will be the front of your curtains.