Hi, My girlfriend and I would like to make curtains for the windows in our house but have never done any sewing etc before. (How difficult can it be?)
Does anybody have any links to websites showing how to do this?
Its very easy. But if youve never done any sewing, you first need to practice to get nice straight lines and not bunch up the fabric. You buy header tape, cut to length and sew on, then pull the drawstrings in it, tie them, to reduce the curtain width and give the pleated effect.
NT
It's fairly easy if you have a sewing machine and just want rectangles of material with some rufflette tape attached. It gets harder if you want linings, interlinings, etc.
Probably best to practice making some cushion covers first; less material wasted if you arse it up.
If you don't have a sewing machine, forget it.
You might be able to find evening classes in basic machine sewing / making furnishings.
Owain
What about lining the curtains, is that fairly straightforward?
Very very easy :)
You do really need to beg borrow or steal a sewing machine.
This you can get just about anywhere - the place you buy your fabric from will sell it
The hardest bit (IMO) is actually cutting the curtains to the length you want them. If you can get fabric the right length you are laughing.
Personally I always hem by hand - YMMV
I can't imagine there would be a link on how make curtains - it's just too easy.
yes. Its not always needed. When sewing the lining to the curtain fabric, have the whole lot inside out. Once finished, flip it the right way out and all the cut edges and sewing disappears out of view.
I would recommend zigzagging over all cut edges, at low tension, or if you only have a straight stitch machine, fold twice and straight stitch, to prevent wear.
I've half wondered if one could make curtain using polythne bags and an iron... I wouldnt seriously try it, but it might just work.
Theres always a sewing ng. And if youre in any way unsure, maybe make a tiny practice curtain first, eg 6" square.
NT
It's easy once you know all the basics - like what length and width of material you need, where to fit the header tape, how to thread a sewing machine, what foot to use, how to sew a stretchy fabric if that's what you have, &c.
Measure the width of the window - each curtain (assuming there are two) should be that width give or take a bit. Length I can't see anyone having a problem with.
At the top of the curtain - doh!
Read the instruction book (that one is for the girls)
The one that's on the machine.
Stretchy curtains? New one on me but each to his own. My advice would be don't use stretchy fabric.
Come on - any bloke worth his salt, if told something is easy, will work it out if it kills him. Any girl will ask her mother/sister/auntie/best friend's mother.
I think the best advice given in this thread was to forget it if you don't have, or can't get hold of, a sewing machine. While it is true that many of us have sat and hand-stiched curtains, I can't imagine a non-sewer having the patience.
I turned up a set of curtains once. Had (and still do) my Mums 1950's singer sewing machine replete with dodgey cotton covered flex (really must change that!).
The machine is solid and reliable though - that's point 1 - get/borrow a
*decent* (solid rather than with gay features you won't use) machine.Second - take your time setting out that material. Big open clean floor or large dining table (hide/anaesthetise/shoot the cat at this point), tailors chalk, lots of pins. Pin everything in the correct shape. Sometimes running a warm iron over the fold at the edge will help it hold the correct shape for sewing and not go awry.
Then sew. Practice with the machine a bit first, and go steady - it's very much like handling a jigsaw in reverse (so a bandsaw then?). You can get a good straight line, but if you loose concentration for a second, your stuffed.
Buy an unpicker tool - for when you do go wrong :)
Get the right thread for the fabric, shop assistant will advise.
Go to the right shop: Woolworths = B&Q, so no. "Maxine's Sewing Shop" or whatever = Trade counter, staffed by people who actually know their onions, only less fat and a lot less grumpy.
Go for it, it's pure DIY!
Tim
yes. Its not always needed. When sewing the lining to the curtain fabric, have the whole lot inside out. Once finished, flip it the right way out and all the cut edges and sewing disappears out of view.
I would recommend zigzagging over all cut edges at low tension, or if you only have a straight stitch machine, fold twice and straight stitch, to prevent fraying.
I've half wondered if one could make curtain using polythne bags and an iron... I wouldnt seriously try it, but it might just work.
Theres always a sewing ng. And if youre in any way unsure, maybe make a tiny practice curtain first, eg 6" square. Hang it on the loo roll holder or something :)
NT
thats the ideal, but one can do it successfully without any of the above.
I prefer glue to pins, use clear waterbased glue, eg a gluestick. Apply glue, apply hot iron and it dries instantly. The cloth is then flat and flexible, so can be fed quickly. And both sides are mated perfectly. Use a mid coloured felt tip to mark the line - wobbly lines are where newbies go wrong - and you get a perfect result. A wash removes all glue and felt tip.
As far as machine quality goes, almost anything would do this ok. If it works, it'll work. A 1920s charity shop =A310 special will do curtains fine. The only real dont is dont use a chain stitch machine, those are genuine junk, typically sold new for =A35 to =A320, small things to economise on plastic, then got rid of after 1 or 2 attempts to produce something.
I'd buy proper brand name =A31 thread rather than cheap =A31 for 30 junk, but in this case, since its hidden, even the crap stuff will work ok.
NT
Genius! I never thought of that, but it makes perfect sense :)
I agree - the 1920's machine built out of iron will almost certainly work better than a cheap far-eastern bit of plastic tat. Most good sewing shops sell reconditioned Singers and other good brands for varying amounts of money if you're going to get long term about sewing.
Also true, though for a quid I'd still buy the good stuff, it's little cost compared to the material.
Is it best to match the thread to the material where possible, cotton with cotton or polyester with synthetic material - avoiding (the admittedly very small) chance of problems when you first wash the curtains and any natural fibre used shrinks a bit?
Which brings a second point up I meant to mention - natural material may shrink when you wash it first time, so best to oversize the curtains slightly, if your design is to "just fit" the windows rather than being vastly bigger.
Tim
Sounds simple. Most beginners badly underestimate the width required.
Almost certainly very bad advice. Try 3-6" lower - depending upon effect required.
Smeone is going to borrow a sewing machine and find a manual withit?! Sexist? Presumably you didn't do 'soft' technology at school. ;-)
So you're another that breaks all those expensive needles trying to sew a wide zig-zag (see next bit) with a bulls-eye foot.
That's one way out! But if the fabric stretches (some do) then a taut thread will break so you need to zig-zag the thread to allow for any stretch.
Your working this one out could become very expensive...
And it's painful!
I beg to differ, but neutralising the cat is most definitely a requisite!
Tim
Even better - wash the fabric BEFORE cutting and sewing it. It can be difficult to predict just how much something will shrink - best to get most of the shrinkage out of the way first, _then_ make the curtains.
Sheila, who has made many, many curtains.
Huh? Have you ever made curtains? Have you GOT any curtains? The tape goes right at the very top of the curtains. The effect of a taller ruffle is made by wider tape. Put the tape 6" below the top and you'll either have floppy curtains or be forced to starch the damn things.
Well every machine I've ever owned came with an instruction manual. I've had 3 and never had a new one. For some reason, we seem to look after sewing machines.
To be fair, I did use a hand Singer when I was a kid which may not have had a manual (I never saw it but I'd be prepared to lay odds that it existed somewhere in the flat) but my Mum always threaded it up for me.
It's not sexist at all. Everyone knows that women can't read maps and men won't read instructions of any kind. It's genetic isn't it?
And I didn't do any kind of "technology" at school. We didn't have "technology" back then. I did do needlework and cookery though. And knitting.
Both my children did Food Technology, Resistant Materials and Textiles. No knitting though - they don't seem to teach that in schools nowadays. Still - they can both manage the sewing machine without having to ask me.
Oh bollocks to that. The OP is a novice. Anyone that lends him a machine is not going to put either expensive needles or a bulls-eye foot on it. Any second hand machine might have a set of feet with it (and an instruction manual) but it'll have a boring standard foot installed and they won't attempt to change it nor will they read the instructions as to which foot is for which purpose.
Why not just tell the OP to forget the whole idea and buy ready mades from BHS? Stretchy curtains indeed. Pah. Men!
Trust a man to overcomplicate the simplest of tasks. I'll bet you are the type to take all week doing the washing (have to do at least 14 loads as there are 7 different fabrics and after you've separated the whites from the coloureds.... better not mix red with anything else.... clean the machine thoroughly after every wash to prevent cross contamination... run the machine at night to take advantage of the cheap leccy etc.etc.)
:)
Hand sewing painful? Wot no thimble? A bit of backache from sitting crouched over the material perhaps. Apart from that it's quite cathartic - after a while you feel strangely Zenlike.
As an afterthought - weights sewn in to the hem of the curtains do help them to hang nicely. You can buy weights (at the fabric shop) but I still have a fair few old ha'pennies in the loft which are ideal (half Ds that is, not half pees which were never good for anything).
Even better - make then in dry cleanable fabric and never wash them. Profligate, but it does avoid both shrinkage and ironing.
I've made a few in my time as well
Or fold it over including stiffening material. At one time it was (nearly?) impossible to get tape wider than about 1" thick and such tape right at the top usually looked naff. As you say wider tape at the top is probably the easiest solution.
[Snip]
It was the backache! Curtains as a first project can seem a touch endless. ;-)
The latter worked marvellously (in bulk) as ballast for favours with (helium) balloons attached at my daughter's wedding. ;-)
_always_ use washable fabric, even if for some inexplicable reason you want to dry clean them.
NT
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