Disgraceful curtains

Recently we rearranged the house to make better use of space. My office/sewing area moved into what was the very small spare bedroom. It’s been great having dedicated space to sew in. But I don’t think I can put off doing something about the curtains much longer.

That isn’t an optical illusion. It is an enormous tear in the curtains held together by a few pins. I can’t remember how it came to be there, which should give you some idea of how old it is. The curtains themselves are ancient; I think they came with the house. The tear is probably of more recent date.

The trouble is that I find curtains deeply unexciting. I can browse fabric for hours, even furnishing fabric, but the thought of actually sewing curtains is completely unappealing. All those long straight seams. All that hemming. I’m going to have to find some seriously special fabric if the curtains are ever going to get replaced.

10 thoughts on “Disgraceful curtains”

  1. I made curtains once. Only once. Never. ever. again. As I sewed all those long, straight, mind-numbing seams, I could feel my sewing mojo writhing on the floor in agony. It’s amazing I survived. LOL That said, the curtains weren’t for me. If they were, perhaps it would have been more bearable knowing that I’d have the satisfaction of pretty curtains to appreciate once the agony was over. Good luck!

  2. I recommend making giant machine-hemmed rectangles and buying curtain ring clips from Ikea (search for Riktig). I refuse to sew anything more complicated to cover my windows.

  3. I’m with Clio on this one. I once spent the time and money on a lovely pull-up curtain for DD1’s bedroom. Need I say that I have never done any curtain sewing since? I’ve got two lengths of curtain fabric that I’ve wrapped around the rod that still require hemming some 5 years later. Some things were meant to be either bought or farmed out…..

  5. I am TOTALLY with you. Our saloon curtains desperately needed replacing, but there are 6 massive windows and there’s no way I wanted to sew them. Separating the “I could do them” from “I want to do them” is crucial. We’re working women, and we have enough money to spend on curtains if we wish. Just go out an buy some if the thought of sewing them makes you want to break into hives.

    You probably can’t get around doing the inevitable hemming of said storebought curtains, though. But at least that’s only one line of stitching instead of 4+.

  6. Buy enough cheap fabric to throw over the rod and there you have it! lining and curtain all in one. Glue the hem up, with hemming tape.

  9. I think this is a good time to visit IKEA! It’s just not worth the hassle to make your own unless you enjoy doing it or want something very fancy!

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