So expensive - handmade curtains!!

[Hopthegoodgod]

Any ideas how much i can expect to pay for a set of fully lined pencil pleat curtain with 6 ft drop. Quotes seem so high but it's been a while since I had curtains made. I have the fabric already. Thanks. Window is 6X5.

I paid £900 for my bay window curtains ten years ago (similar drop but maybe a bit wider?).

What have you been quoted?

Is there pattern matching to be done?

Honestly I’d be expecting anything from £1200/2500.

I looked for our window about 3 or 4 years ago and it was about £1k, I bought the ready made ones for about £180 in the same material and DH just raised the pole a bit so they fitted, otherwise I would have just shortened them or had them shortened to fit. This was John Lewis.

Definitely would expect 4 figures, though it depends on the fabric and are they going to be lined, interlined etc.

Our bedroom curtains are going with me to the grave the amount they cost 😳

Ah sorry I see you have the fabric already, maybe not as much then

I tend to buy the fabric and lining fabric myself online at places such as just fabrics or mill shop online. Then go to a little country town with a fabric shop and ask if they have anyone who makes them. My lady charges me about £50! Or if in town ask on a local FB site for recommendations. Good luck!

Make your own. We're in Stitches – Skilled in the art of fabric manipulation

Honestly it will be cheaper to go on a course and learn to do it yourself. West Dean College do this kind of thing.

That's what I was thinking. Curtains are large rectangles and the stitching is straight lines.
You can buy a basic sewing machine for about £90. You don't need anything fancy unless your fabric is tricky.
You could go on a course and it would still be much cheaper than paying to have them made for you.

You might be on sewing bee before long.

How about Dunelm Mill? I paid about £350 14 years ago for lined curtains for a bay window. Not sure how much they would be now.

I once made some for the upstairs bay window and bought the fabric without seeing a sample first. The pattern was much bigger than I expected and I kept them up for a year or two but found them too disturbing as it was a big swirly abstract print.

I still remember how difficult it was to find the space to make them.

Got a single curtain for a large window 6ft x 6ft a couple of years ago from Unbeatable Blinds. Made to measure eyelet curtain £130 including fabric and lining.
It wasn't expensive fabric but it actually looks really luxurious and is soft and thick. They have made it nicely - I can't see any flaws anyway.

Do you have all the fabric and the lining material and the heading tapes ? Is there a difficult pattern match or is it quite straightforward?
Just for cutting out and making up I would expect to pay between £250 - £400

I was a curtain maker and am now a dressmaker

curtain making is a sodding nightmare and a £90 sewing machine won’t cut it. Firstly, quality curtains are hand stitched on the sides and the bottom. The only parts that are machine stitched are the fabric joins and machine sewing in the pleats. You need a strong, sturdy machine to go through several layers of fabric, interlining, lining and stiffener. Curtains are BIG, you need lots of space to lay them out, measure, pin, remeasure, sew.

curtain makers hate using customers own fabric. There’s nothing guarantee of the quality, if it’s printed on the grain etc and usually you’re expected to make up someone’s fabric for minimum wage as they’ve given you the fabric, how hard can it be? You wouldn’t take your car to a garage with a new exhaust and ask them to fit it? He curtain makers that do use customers fabric will charge a “checking fee” so that they can ensure that the fabric is without fault before making up and to cover the costs of insurance because if the customers not happy you can find ranted they’ll be seeking recompense!

I did a course on making curtains the traditional way - honestly OP, it is much more skilled and time consuming I'd known. What I hadn't realised was, that proper handmade curtains are not completely, but mostly hand sewn. It cost me approximately £150 for fabric - I needed 9m for a window about 1.2m * 2.6m plus another 9m in lining fabric. I think it would have cost at least £600 + fabric + Vat to have them made. Quite possibly much more, depending on who I used. It took me hours and hours of work and I needed a huge amount of room to do it.

@Bridgertonisbest , My curtains are unlined, quite light and the windows are not big. I didn't want blackout ones. That's probably why it was easy.

I studied fashion design at university and whilst I no longer do that for a job, I do enjoy sewing and make curtains/other soft furnishings for our home.

The fabrics I use are designer stuff - £100-£200 per metre minimum (I'm currently using some Ottoline fabric that retails at £188 pm - I paid £50 pm 😁). I search out bargains online so I feel like I've got a good deal. Mine are always lined and interlined and mostly hand sewn, but I do cheat sometimes although I sold my industrial machines ages ago so just have a heavy duty standard one these days.

I agree it's a highly skilled job requiring loads of patience - and space! - and I certainly wouldn't want to do it for anyone else!

Ooh Where'd you get your bargain Ottoline fabric? Their designs are so gorgeous - I'm dying to make some Svenskt Tenn curtains but it's ££££ and I've never found enough meterage on eBay etc.

We work on the basis for lined curtains with pencil tape heading, £35 per width plus the cost of the materials.

Interlined curtains or those with goblet headings or box pleats are most costly.

Handmade curtains are expensive but the difference between handmade made to measure and ready-made is huge. I have a wide bedroom window, three widths to each curtain and full
length and would expect to pay 2-3k. This would include lining, interlining, fabric etc. The current curtains are only being replaced as the sun has affected/rotted the fabric but they are almost 20 years old. Good curtains are a worthwhile investment.

I make our curtains including several pleated/lined/interlined pairs. Our last set were about £350 just for the fabric and lining and that was from a discount place. I've been on a course but it is a hours/days of precise, careful work and hand sewing to get them to hang well.

If they are for a main room and a large size , I would get a local small business to do them, they won't be ripping you off and they will appreciate the work. John Lewis or Dunelm will be hastily machined together, they will look ok but they won't have the workmanship.

I went to a local discount fabric warehouse where most stuff is £5 a metre, I chose some lovely heavy material that’s quite Art deco/ Mackintosh and one of their staff made them for £250, including lining. This is for a 3m wide window. The pole cost almost as much as the curtains.

Paid £2000 18 months ago .
Two pairs goblet headings pole to floor .
Lined
1 window standard size
2nd window around 3 metres wide .

If you've already got the fabric then I'd assume about £300 to £500 to make up curtains. Do you want them to have interlining, that will add a small amount to the cost but makes the cheapest fabric look amazing.