cost of handmade curtains

[easteralready]

We live in a barn conversion and have large windows. Desperate for new curtains and would love some made to measure and professionally fitted.

Is somewhere like John Lewis silly money for this sort of service?
If so any other recommendations?

John Lewis is likely to be expensive yes, you can work out rough costs on their website. I ended up buying the fabric and making them myself (which was really hard work), you may find a local fabric shop cheaper but I'd ask to see samples of their work.

I got costs from JL and a local curtain shop (possibly a franchise, the curtains were made in a factory rather than locally). In the end I used a local lady recommended by the haberdasher's. She told me where to get the fabric, how much, pattern repeats etc and was about 1/3 the cost of JL in the end, but it was for 2 very ordinary rectangular 1 m x 2 m windows .

I realise that not every town or village has a haberdashery, but maybe ask at dry cleaner that does alterations etc?

If you are in the NW I have a friend who runs a business doing exactly what you are after.

We've had a couple of pairs from Dunelm Mill and they are very good quality and well made. Otherwise there is Curtains 2 Go online.

The custom made curtains from dunhelm are very good quality and about half the price of John Lewis. Choose fabric that isn't as expensive and go for a very generous fullness and they will look more expensive than they are.

Curtains2Go are great, or ask for a seamstress at your local fabric store.

They're very easy to make yourself - if you have lots of big windows, even with buying a sewing machine, you will save £100s.

Laura ashley can be good if you wait for one of their regular sale weekends where you can get up to 50 pc off. If you have a very large window like some barn conversions have i think you will struggle to make them at home. Ive done ordinary windows but wouldnt try large bay windows or anything longer than 6'. Just having space to deal with the amount if fabric can be the problem. There used to be good 2nd hand curtain shops in london where you could get high quality hand made curtains from large georgian houses which would fit a big window.

I've been very happy with online curtain places like 247 curtains. I always check out our local curtain shop first for readymades - they offer a very reasonable shortening service so you can have made to measure sort of effect for much less, but of course they are limited on size.

Huge, posh curtains will tend to be £££ anywhere unless you're buying second hand, so I'd start at the cheaper end and work up as far as you can afford.

Curtains for two windows and a patio door, triple lined, rails and fitting about £1,500 these are a bargain in comparison to the front room.

JL and Laura Ashley are expensive for made to measure. We have the barn windows too and I've used curtainscurtainscurtains and tuiss, would use both again.

Hi op you could try googling local curtain makers, I did this & found someone who made me Roman blinds & curtains for approx £400 rather than the £900 quoted by local fabric shops, might be worth a try.

Do not use John Lewis for furnishings. They are lackadaisical and slow and customer service is abominable.

I'd make them yourself. Curtains is easy, if a bit boring, and if you have a lot of large windows you could save hundreds if not thousands.

Hi easteralready. I make my own handmade curtains, but have fairly small sized windows. They are quite easy to make, but to do a proper job (nice heading, lining and interlining) then it is very time consuming and physically hard work. A lot of curtain makers use this website www.mydecozo.co.uk/content.php?s=201bba0f9efdc4332e9d2df14ac74cce You could post on there to see if there is anyone in your area who might be able to help. You will probably find that the independent curtain makers will be able to supply your fabric at a significantly discounted price compared to John Lewis. If you are feeling up making up your own, then you will find lots of good tips and tutorials to help you on this site.