Help - curtain making virgin!

[mummychicken]

If the window is 1.5 m wide - how long do the curtains have to be? Do I buy 3m of material or is it more?

You'll almost certainly need more than 3m of fabric unless the finished length is under 1m and you don't want that much fullness to the curtains.

You need to measure and work out how big you want the finished curtain to be (how high above the window are you going to put the rail? How long do you want the curtain relative to the sill? How long is the rail going to be - many rails are longer than the window is wide so that the curtain stacks back on the wall when pulled rather than obscuring the glass).

Once you know the finished dimensions you need to decide what heading you want to use and decide on a fabric. The heading will determine how full you need the curtain to be (how gathered/pleated it will be) and the fabric will determine how much extra you need to accommodate any pattern repeat, plus not all fabrics are the same width to start with. You'll also need to add on a bit for turnings.

My.deco.zone seems like a really friendly site with a soft furnishings speciality. A calculator like this will help make sure you get the right amount of fabric.

That said, I think curtains can be as easy or as complex as you choose to make them. I just tend to get a bit obsessed with the details. Which is why I still haven't started making curtains to go in the hall since it was decorated over a year ago .

I thought it was a simple process of hemming and putting that strip at the top! May have to think again on this! I am a complete novice and don't even know how to thread up my sewing machine

Thanks for the advice.

At its most basic it can be - all depends what kind of finish you want. My experience so far is making a roman blind for DD's room. It worked out OK, but I did make a couple of silly mistakes like allowing the barest minimum of turnings (doubly stupid as I was using a remnant that was twice as long as the window so not eking the fabric out ). Hence my conclusion that measuring and doing the maths a few times before you start is a Very Good Thing.

Basically, if your window is 1.5m wide and your fabric is 1.5m wide then as long as you don't want too big a stack back (so the outside edge of the curtain is close to the edge of the window without too much overlap) and you don't want too much fullness you should be able to have one width of fabric for each curtain. Just make sure you get enough length to allow for the header tape, the rail (depending on how you're hanging) and extra below the window sill.

The bit I haven't got my head around is how you match patterns between curtains (so when they're drawn the meeting point isn't too blindingly obvious) - you may need a bit extra for that as well.

Have you got a local shop you're going to use to buy the fabric? Ours our really helpful and I'm pretty sure if I rolled in with all the measurements and said "I want to make curtains for here with this fabric" they'd help me work through what I needed to make sure I got the right quantity.

Good luck :)

I made some curtains (including pattern matching and a very wide window needing two panels to be sewn together to make each curtain, AND lining them!) for the very first time a few months back using the basic instructions on the Channel 4 Homes website. I will try and post a link. There are instructions for measuring up and also for making unlined and lined curtains. I found them quite easy to follow and I am a sewing numpty - the curtains are the very first thing I have made with my sewing machine.

www.channel4.com/4homes/design-style/how-to-guides/how-to-make-lined-curtains-fast-08-06-18_p_1.html

This is the instructions for lined curtains - there are links on the page for measuring up and unlined curtains.

Best advise to to get a few basic books - e bay??? merrick & day do good books. I am near enough self taught with some classes inbetween but always learning as its endless.

The gather depends on the finish you want and the type of print you are using. You could easily get away with 1.5 gather (say tab top)against a posh pencil pleat (on rail)which needs 2.25.

Always line curtains as its pointless and a bonus if you use a quality lining. You can use cheap fabric but always quality thick lining/black out. Interlining is advanced but I am going to use this for my boys room as using very cheap fabric.

Dont measure window measure track and allow at least 10-12cm below sill.
If using basic cotton fabic wash first as you dont want it to shrink on the next wash.
There are hundreds of tips and calculators on-line.

Thank you for all your help but I have decided to go down the getting them made route. I was going to make them and even went as far as taking the material I wanted to the counter but the woman in John Lewis was SOOOO snotty and condesending rather than helpful so she really put me off [wimp]