The Sewing Place

The Emporia => House Beautiful => Topic started by: wrenkins on April 18, 2018, 13:32:28 PM

Title: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: wrenkins on April 18, 2018, 13:32:28 PM
Whilst sitting having lunch I was noodling about looking at fabric...as you do.
I found some quite nice stuff which would do in the bathroom for the cheapo price of £12.35pm on special offer. For a laugh ahahaha I put in my details on their curtain maker calculator and came up with.....

Width 1500mm x Drop 1400mm

.....£236.27.

Why? Just why???
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: Iminei on April 18, 2018, 13:33:51 PM
you've got me ?!!!
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: Samantha on April 18, 2018, 14:16:57 PM
My sewing friend paid about that for materials to make her own curtains, as Fran said it's something to do with the amount you need which can be quite lot depending on the pattern. Personally I'd buy them ready for half the price  0_0 (or even ;less if you get them from Ikea  :ninja:)
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: wrenkins on April 18, 2018, 14:23:28 PM
For 1.5 widths per side would require 6m of fabric. I make that £162.17 for making. £50 a width to make curtains? Is that how much it is now?
I won't be buying them, I make my own.  0_0  I just pictured my little bathroom window and thought that was a whole lot of money for not very much window! It's about 120cm square.
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: wrenkins on April 18, 2018, 15:03:05 PM
No break down.
I could either buy the fabric at £12.35pm (£74.10) or have curtains made up in the fabric for £236.27 using the measurements provided by me.
Width of pole 150cm x drop 140cm.
No linings. No tie-backs.
I can't even remember the website now.  0_0
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: Lowena on April 18, 2018, 15:17:48 PM
Seems ok to me  -<
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: wrenkins on April 18, 2018, 15:50:49 PM
I had no idea I was saving myself so much money.  :o
I've only ever had two sets of curtains made and they were for my sitting room and absolutely huge. It took two of us to lift them into the car! No way I was starting to heave that lot about.
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: Lowena on April 18, 2018, 16:02:07 PM
I'd go for it at that price :)
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: Yellowfeather on April 18, 2018, 16:35:55 PM
Do you have a local shop or person that can make the curtains up for you if you buy the fabric??   The price is worked out on the amount of widths of fabric used.  I work for a curtain shop, and the price seems about right, but you might get it cheaper if you shop around a bit.
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: wrenkins on April 18, 2018, 17:04:24 PM
I have every intention of making them myself as always. It was just pure nosiness.  :[ 
I have since found them for £129 (exactly the same fabric and details) on a different site. Or if I want them hand finshed...£139.
Still making them myself though!  :ninja:
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: BrendaP on April 18, 2018, 20:51:12 PM
For 1.5 widths per side would require 6m of fabric. I make that £162.17 for making. £50 a width to make curtains? Is that how much it is now?


Width 1500mm x Drop 1400mm

You probably need 2 widths per curtain, anything less can look skimpy, especially with the lighter weight fabrics usually used in bathrooms.  That would be 8m of fabric, £98.80
 
Would they be lined?  Will you use heading tape?  A reel of thread.

That could could be well over £100 in total, leaving not much more than £100 for making them - barely a day's wages for the curtain maker - who would supply tools and expertise as well as labour.
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: wrenkins on April 18, 2018, 21:10:51 PM
I hate skimpy curtains but they were quoting for 1.5 widths of my chosen fabric per curtain. No linings, no tie-backs.
I must just be out of touch with prices these days since I've been making my own.
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: BrendaP on April 18, 2018, 23:17:32 PM
Well there's probably a hefty mark-up for the shop too  ><
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: Efemera on April 19, 2018, 09:02:06 AM
I hate skimpy curtains but they were quoting for 1.5 widths of my chosen fabric per curtain. No linings, no tie-backs.
I must just be out of touch with prices these days since I've been making my own.

I wouldn’t be paying that price either.... I looked at new curtains for the lounge... well over £2000 ...I think not.
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: Bloobell on April 27, 2018, 10:28:39 AM
Having lived a previous life as a curtain maker, I don't see anything wrong with the price you were given, assuming the curtains were lined. Frankly, curtains are a right old pain in the jacksy to make - they're enormously difficult to cut out (correcting the grain, ensuring the fabric is flat and straight, ensuring you've calculated the drops properly - once cut there's no going back), handle during the process (you try hauling three widths of fabric to your machine for seaming and see how much fun it is) and you need a decent sized space to work in.

I agree that there is pretty much absolutely nothing that complex about making them, especially compared to clothing (until you consider having to work with half drop repeats and pattern matching across several pairs of curtains, hand pleating to pattern, goblet headings, beaded trims, all the things that make "made to order" special) but the sheer effort required, even for machine sewing them with header tape, is not to be sneered at.

I specialised in hand-sewn curtains (the only machine sewing was stitching the widths together) until it physically became too much for me, but I still make roman blinds by the hand stitching method. I spent way more time than I like to remember on my knees straightening fluid fabrics, discovering Laura Ashley's penchant for printing off grain (ask any curtain maker about LA and I guarantee they'll grimace) and learned an awful lot about how heavy big slabs of fabric are when interlined and lined!!
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: wrenkins on April 27, 2018, 10:52:25 AM
I had no idea I was saving myself so much money.  :o
I've only ever had two sets of curtains made and they were for my sitting room and absolutely huge. It took two of us to lift them into the car! No way I was starting to heave that lot about.
Oh I do understand all of that if that's what I was getting...but I wasn't! The £129 seemed more realistic to me for the boxes I ticked.
I once made LA curtains for my SIL. Never again! She finally undertood why I was going mad when she used their wallpaper. Boy does it stretch!
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: Seweasy on May 10, 2018, 16:17:36 PM
I can only agree with Fran and Bloobell, having only ever made my own curtains, including swags and tails for rooms with  nine foot high ceilings...your body.... and soul takes a beating... >:) :S :D... I much prefer to make roman blinds these days, hand sewing them takes time, but they're not as heavy... :)
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: Sewingforfun on May 11, 2018, 14:51:01 PM
Having made one pair of hand interlined curtains (1 ½ widths/curtain, 225cm long), I was more than happy to pay £300/pair for making plus the fabric for another pair the same size!! It seems cheap at the price compared to a lot of other things. They aren't easy to make well, and as everyone else is saying, so heavy and so big.... Good, well made curtains last for ages, though, so it's a long term investment.
Title: Re: How much!?!?!?!
Post by: Gernella on May 12, 2018, 16:11:05 PM
I think you have to class curtains as  an investment.  The ones in our dining room and lounge cost nearly £1250 (Two long curtains, one to just below window sill), that was around 1996 and I was working.  They are still up and I have never got fed up of them (thank goodness), but I remember when I bought them the assistant did  remark on them being an investment.   I have made them in the past but it was a faff and you need a lot of space.  These were also a pinch pleat so I think they take more fabric.   Bedroom curtains I buy ready made and just shorten to suit, plus for some reason I feel the need to change them more often.

I did get a new front door curtain made around 2009 and I think that was around £280 for about a 7/8 ft wide and was a bit miffed because there was some puckering on the seam.  I couldn't do much about it because they had been sat in the box for weeks while I got round to decorating.  I got a sample first, enough to make a cushion on one side and I didn't get any puckering so it  wasn't funny fabric.

It's a lot of money but I wouldn't want to manhandle them or cock up any pattern matching or fancy tops.