I need to shorten the curtains. In most rooms the radiators are underneath windows and the curtains hang over them. We only have the radiators on a few hours a day and at this time of year the curtains are usually drawn then so I can't waste the heat by letting it just heat the windows. So I need to shorten the curtains.
For the first time for nearly twenty years we have ready made curtains (hence the problems with the length) and they are lined and everything. I am going to have to mark their length, take them down, alter them and hang them up. I am a bit worried that I need to cut them as it is at least twelve inches fabric at the bottom.
What if I get it wrong? The curtains cost a fortune. I suppose they were a fortune to me, not the four figure sum a friend of mine managed to pay and for less than £300 I got ready made, lined, nice curtains for two sets of large windows and two door curtains. But it is an absolute fortune when up until now it was fabric from the market and a reel of cotton.
By the way, for anyone interested who is passing Skipton there is a place that sells remnants and overstocks of fabric near the bus station called The Fent Shop. The fabric may be sold at £5 or £10 per metre but the original price may have been £20 or £30 per metre and the stuff is gorgeous. I normally stay away as I have no current use for fabric but I am easily tempted.
I could just take them up which would look odd from the outside but currently I bunch them up on the window sill. That doesn't look elegant either. Bear does tend to pull the curtain away from the sill so it covers the radiator as well, so there is constant adjustment.
I'm planning on getting going on Monday but if anyone has any suggestions I am very grateful.
Do what I do and either tuck them behind the radiators when you draw them or fold them up onto the window cill.
ReplyDeleteI have HEARD that the best way to shorten curtains is by taking the header tape off the top and cutting that end, rather than mucking about with the bottoms, especially if the bottoms are already beautifully hemmed, since it is the bottom that people tend to look at. Perhaps you could find a youtube clip with more instructions than I am able to give....Good luck - I don't hardly sew at all, and would be giving this job to the lovely lady in the village who does this sort of thing for us....xxx
ReplyDeleteThat is seriously scary! Aaaargghhhh! Probably the best idea as well! WS xxx
DeleteI agree with Morgan shorten the curtains from the top as its so much easier.By the way dare I mention that there is a fabric shop near me that sells gorgeous and really good quality curtain and dressmaking fabrics for £1 a metre and there is a huge warehouse full of choice all at the one price? I have to make some curtains as we have moved the living room round after purchasing two new sofas and the old curtains just reach the bottom of the windowsill which was fine before but now its too short and send the cold down onto our shoulders as we sit beneath.So longer curtains are required
ReplyDeleteLesleyxx
Darn, you are right - and don't let me near that warehouse! WS xxx
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