Curtain making

[Gem]

I am actually looking for some advise.. I am going to make up some curtains for the new home (have you seen the cost of curtains these days??? ) but I'm not sure whether to bother with lining them. The curtains are not for bedrooms so it doesnt matter too much about the amount of light that gets in and the material is pretty thick..

Thoughts? I didnt really think it was necessary tbh but the MIL thinks that they will look scruffy and unfinished without lining.. Also I have never lined curtains before so not sure the best way to do it...

Any thoughts or advice?

Cheers

Gem

[Gem]

Haha I think you may be right, MIL was Mother In Law ;) so she is a little bit of a old school furnisher..

[Green Aura]

I made a lot of the curtains when we moved up here. I've lined them with blackout lining, mainly because of the long daylight in the summer. It was really easy to line them though. When I was looking where to buy I noticed that most linings seem to be a couple of centimetres narrower than the curtain fabric.

So I just pinned it inside the seam and sewed up the sides and hem. If you do it by this method just remember to make the lining shorter to accommodate the hem and top, or you get a really bulky area.

They hang really nicely and block out a lot of noise as well as light - when we get high winds and rain it often comes straight at the windows. My first winter here, before I made the curtains, I had to move into the back of the house when the noise got unbearable (getting the windows double-glazed helped a bit too though ). And they most definitely keep the room warmer in winter.

[crowsashes]

i have made my own curtains and added that thermal lining to them, and it really does make a difference in winter and the summer!

i used the lining on a blind i made for my bedroom and not only does it keep the heat in, it also kept my room cooler in the middle of summer. and my bedroom faces south

[JillStephens7]

As we rent and never know how long we'll be able to stay somewhere, I try to curtain as cheaply and quickly as possible.

Have picked up loads of great pairs of curtains at charity shops over the years and lining material/ loose linings. I've found they often leave lining material in the store room as it's not very popular but have struck lucky several times when I've asked. Have also found there are often more curtains than they have on display.

I line curtains as I usually live in draughty houses but do a pretty slapdash job of it.

I usually just machine some header-tape ??? onto the top of a piece of lining material I've hemmed and use curtain hooks to hang it from the bottom row of stitches ??? on the header tape of the curtain. Quick and easy and means I can easily swap them over to different curtains when we move & even wash them occasionally in theory at least ...

[Thomzo]

They do make a huge difference in keeping the heat in. Even with double glazing, I notice how much the lined curtains keep the cold out (if that makes sense) compared to unlined ones.

I'm allergic to dust so I need to be able to wash all my curtains. For that reason, I rarely buy and never make lined curtains but use separate linings hung inside.

But I will happily use unlined curtains. I think some fabrics hang better when not lined. Probably the best thing to do is to make the curtains and see how they hang. If they look ok, then leave as is. If you think they could do with being a bit fuller then line them later.

Cheers
Zoe