Where to get curtains made that don't cost more than my children are worth to me?

[Beachhairdontcare]

Seriously, curtains are expensive!

Where can I get relatively inexpensive curtains made that don't cost an arm and a leg???

Depends on what size and material you want them in, also linings and heading style.
After a long search I had some huge lined linen curtains made by Dunelm, they were half the price of similar JL ones.

Can you sew a straight line on a sewing machine?
That's all you need to do. Make a rectangle 1.5 times the width of your window and a deep hem to the height you want, then sew on curtain tape (it does the gathering for you) with hooks to the rings on your pole or use snap-on ring grommets which are even easier. For kids you can use bedsheets or duvet covers so everything matches. They don't need to have linings unless it's to keep out the cold.

IKEA curtains are cheap and you can Wundaweb them to the length you like. They also have thermal linings that hook onto the heading tape.

www.justlinen.co.uk have a good range of matching bedding and readymade curtains and offer excellent discounts.
Or small-scale fabric shops will often do curtain making.

Ikea

George at Asda
Next
Argos

Nothing to offer but your thread title made me laugh.

Have you thought of Ebay? I got some huge ones for my loft room doors made in Laura Ashley fabric with blackout lining and they're beautiful. Cost under £200. Found a seller who had curtains I liked and just sent her a message asking her if it was an options. She did them in less than a week and they're perfect.

I second Asda. Great value for 90 x 90 curtains and they are lined too.

I bought plain curtains from Argos for my teens room recently. Very reasonably priced and had it delivered same day.

I would get ready made if you can and just turn them up if they are a bit long or just leave them a bit long. I have never had ready made curtains and either buy from John Lewis in the sale or from somewhere like Dunelm.

I'd say Dunelm if you can't get any ready made that will fit. I feel your pain, as most curtains won't fit our downstairs rooms , 90x120 being the smallest option that will go anywhere near coverage.

A couple of other things to consider:-

• Is there anyone locally who could sew alterations for you? I've had our rear French door curtains made out of two pairs of ready mades, and it was a fairly simple job. Beyond me, though...
• Can you use ready made curtains in other ways? I'm currently using three ready made curtains to cover a pair of windows in two first floor rooms. (Two windows in each room, three pairs of ready made curtains shared between both, iyswim. The third curtain in each pair of windows gets to live in the middle between the two windows. )

If you can swing ready mades becoming suitable by some creative solutions, then Dunelm sale, Tesco, and Ikea all feature in this house. We've also got a blind made out of a duvet cover...cheaper than fabric.

Charity shops.

I googled local curtain makers & found one very near me, she was brilliant made beautiful roman blinds & curtains all hand finished at a fraction, of the quotes I had from local fabric shops might be worth a try.

Wilkinsons, but they aren't lined. We have a huge bay and managed to dress it for £50 using 2 sets of ready-mades.

Curtains are toe curlingly expensive, you're right! Even if you can make them, the fabric is still going to be at least £10 pm for the cheapest furnishing weight fabric and then another £8 pm for a basic lining. So a window with a 2 metre drop is instantly approx £80!

I'm about to convert a throw into tabtop curtains for my child's room. Throw is about same size as window. Will sew on tabs, back with black material (throw is various colours embroidery on heavy black cotton). Can't really see it costing me more than £20. Will go to the market for the backing material so probably less. Embroidery will face in so will look like a big picture when closed. And unique! :) I'd look around and see what you can be creative with that you already own.

(You obvs need a bit extra on all sides to allow for any hemming etc. )