The Sewing Place

Curtains for sewing room

Sewbee

Curtains for sewing room
« on: October 06, 2017, 21:47:01 PM »
I went to Dunelm today and after seeing the price of curtains I decided to sew a pair for my new sewing room. I have made pleated drapes before but never the eyelet curtains that seem popular in the UK  and which I thought I would put in the sewing room.

First of all, are the eyelets easy to do?

Secondly, I went to justfabrics website and it seems curtain fabric is 140 cm wide. The width of the window measured straight across is  175 cm (70 inches). Would two panels (one for each curtain) be sufficient width? With pleated drapes it's usually 1.75 times the width or even twice but I want to keep it simple and try not to put a vertical seam in the curtains and not bother matching pattern repeats.

I haven't measured the length yet but let's say for example that the finished length (excluding top and bottom hems) is 120 cm or 48 inches.

What's the formula for calculating how much fabric you need? It's easy to work out if one width of the fabric is enough for each curtain but if not I'm in a tizzy!


Snowgoose

Re: Curtains for sewing room
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2017, 00:16:00 AM »
I can't help with eyelets as I'm using poles, but this is the calculator I'm using for the curtains I hope to sew this winter - with lots of you tube help  along the way :)

http://www.wereinstitches.co.uk/curtain-fabric-calculator/

Sewbee

Re: Curtains for sewing room
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2017, 06:16:13 AM »
I can't help with eyelets as I'm using poles, but this is the calculator I'm using for the curtains I hope to sew this winter - with lots of you tube help  along the way :)

http://www.wereinstitches.co.uk/curtain-fabric-calculator/

Whew! Thank you. What a GREAT calculator!!

Vegegrow

Re: Curtains for sewing room
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2017, 07:03:34 AM »
If you want to have eyelet curtains you will thread them onto poles...if you already have tracks fitted this is additional expense... Dunhelm do there own brand Eyelet tape which I have never used .... I have used Rufflettes Solar Tape with Jupiter rings which you buy separately 

edited because I was interrupted..... I used these because they were double sided curtains ... one of the advantages of eyelets is they stack back on the pole neatly so you can save light .. consider this with the length of the pole you don't want to loose light in a sewing room so you might want to have a slightly longer pole or  track
« Last Edit: October 07, 2017, 07:24:14 AM by Vegegrow »
"The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary." ~Mary Kurtz

Sewbee

Re: Curtains for sewing room
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2017, 07:28:53 AM »
If you want to have eyelet curtains you will thread them onto poles...if you already have tracks fitted this is additional expense... Dunhelm do there own brand Eyelet tape which I have never used .... I have used Rufflettes Solar Tape with Jupiter rings which you buy separately

Thanks for letting me know about the tape. I had no idea you could buy tape with the holes in it.

There is no rod there at the moment so I have to install one. Cutting out the eyelet holes will be cumbersome, I think. I might just use some form of ruffle tape. Hmm . . .

There are plastic Venetian blinds there at the moment. The room faces southwest and tends to get quite warm in the summer. The plastic blinds radiate heat so I think I will put new white wooden horizontals there instead. These will also help block light at night, so the curtains are really for decoration more than anything else.

BrendaP

Re: Curtains for sewing room
« Reply #5 on: October 09, 2017, 09:06:57 AM »
It's not easy putting the large eyelets into curtains if you don't have the right tools.

You can get hand held setters like this but make sure you get the same size eyelets, they come in several sizes.  It's not very easy getting everything lined up properly with this type of setter.

Professionals use something like this.
http://www.dtpsupplies.com/ap2.html



Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

Sewbee

Re: Curtains for sewing room
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2017, 19:39:08 PM »
It's not easy putting the large eyelets into curtains if you don't have the right tools.

You can get hand held setters like this but make sure you get the same size eyelets, they come in several sizes.  It's not very easy getting everything lined up properly with this type of setter.

Professionals use something like this.
http://www.dtpsupplies.com/ap2.html

I don't think they are worth doing - too fiddly and too much room for error. I think I will use some form of shirring or pleating tape instead. :)