fabric for curtains-any ideas for cutting costs?

[themildmanneredstalker]

i have had a quote today for making either a pair of curtains for my front dooor or a single curtain.
it is out of budget. by quite a bit!
but the fabric is beautiful. really lovely!

i have chosen another fabric and the quote for making up in that is ok-ish.

however i have come home with samples and the original fabric is so much nicer. really lovely.
dh keeps saying the other fabric isn't right but as i said you cut your coat according to your cloth! quite literally in this case!

anyway-this fabric is £15-99 a metre and is quite a heavy one with a leaf pattern embroidered on it.

any ideas? top tips? on how i can get something similar for a reasonable price?

oooh tell me about the curtain exchange please!!!

Have you tried here?

We got our bedroom curtain fabric here. It was Laura Ashley fabric, £21.99 a metre, but they had rolls of the stuff in their warehouse leftover from a hotelier who had bulk bought it and ordered too much, so we got it for £6.00 a metre (bargain!). They do loads of fabrics - an overwhelming range, actually, and it's all between £6.99-9.99 a metre, usually sourced in a similar way - end of line or from bulk purchases where they've over-ordered.

what kind of top did it have? I can't remember what the options are but the kind of top (I'm sure it's got a more technical name but top will do...) affects how much fabric you use - ie it affects how gathered it is. I'm reasonably sure that tab-top curtains use the least. building on mable murple's idea (wnd trying to cut out the sewing) could you even buy some cheap cream ready mades and then use the nice fabric for tie backs?

here

it's heart-breaking how expensive curtains are. I hate our sitting room curtains but when we moved in I got a quote to have them replaced and it was just gob-smacking. so we've still got them. 7 years later...

top = heading eg pencil pleat, tab top, goblet pleat, french pleat etc etc

i will have to have pencil pleat as there is no room for a pole.

i think the problemis make up costs rather than fabric actually now i have looked closer.

Yes, no getting away from the fact that make up cost is usually high unless you have mate's rates!

I can't believe it, themildmanneredstalker.

I'm in the process of measuring our front door for curtains and guess what, that's the same material I chose. I'm not kidding you.

Infact I've changed my mind because it will clash with the stained glass window. I feel it will make it all look too busy for our hallway. So I've opted for Leaf Trail (stone) instead. Much cheaper £12 per metre.

Let us know how you got on.