Hi, Can any one recommend a reliable curtain maker, ideally in Chester/North Wales area?
I have been badly let down by my caravan dealer after purchasing my new (well new to me) caravan. I need new curtains for the rear fixed bunks and side bunk, and need them quick, otherwise I am going to have 3 kids who aren't going to go to sleep!
I can make Curtains, and will be in Conwy next week, I have made them for our previous vans, and for friends river boats within our enthusiasts group, but im not a business, and just do it occasionally for a craft hobby to pass the hours, as i have reduced mobility. If your really stuck, then i may be able to help you, it wouldnt be the first time i had sewn a set whilst sitting in my awning in the past!
The only thing i cannot sew through regards curtains is the plastic popper tape, i only have a domestic type sewing machine, so tend to use the rufflette type header tape, and you would need to supply the materials. perhaps best if I could see the caravan/boat they are for, so i have a good idea of whats needed for fit, and to check measurements. I dont make lined curtains because the linings are difficult to fit into awkward shapes, and take ages to get straight, although you can buy the ready lined type blackout backed curtain material but mostly this isnt washable. I do have a set of curtains i have made for a mates boat awaiting collection, if you wanted to see the type of thing i could offer to help you with.
Julia
Post last edited on 15/07/2010 08:33:14
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
Hi Julia, You can sew through the popper tape with an ordinary sewing machine. I have just made new curtains for our van and I reused the popper tape as to buy is expensive. What you do is take buttons out first when you sew the top on and put them back to sew the lower side. My sewing machine is about 50 years old and all I did was buy some strong needles to use. I also lined them so there was quite a thickness to go through.
I too have just used an ordinary machine to sew popper tape onto lined curtains. I used a demin needle . new tape is much more supple than old tape, mine had gone quite stiff on the old curtains.
I didnt remove the poppers before sewing either , just sewed very near the edge of the tape.
Well the machine i have now is a Toyota thats only a couple of years old, so didnt want to repeat the experiance i had when i replaced the popper tape on my old Avondale Olympus, around 1993, when i was using my mums Husquavana machine. maybe they have altered the thickness or popper tape material these days, but back then it burned the machines motor out, and i was using a size 16 denim needle at the time.
To be honest, most of the curtains i have made have been for floating caravan refurbs lol, and boat builders dont appear to use the popper tape for curtain fixings as much as they use traditional heading tapes and wires, It could be to do with the reflections of ultraviolet light off the water, tending to make anything of most plastic types become quite brittle in a short space of time, Thats especially true of the old curtains i have removed from boats in the past, where even traditional plastic curtain hooks have just broken up to small fragments in my hand and become totally unusable. the set of curtains i have awaiting collection at the moment, are for a friends Calypso river cruiser, an ex-hire boat built back in the late 1960s, and still going strong!
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
Not a very good photo but just to give you an idea. My machine is a Newhome and is extremely old. Yes the tape was quite hard to sew as it had been up and washed loads of times over the last 15 years but it would have cost more than the material to replace. I think the needle I used was for denim too.
Seemed to have started a debate about sewing machines!
Julia - many, many thanks for your kind offer. I was in Stockport this morning on business and just happend to drive past a fabric shop, so picked up some material. A friend of my parents has offered to make the curtains for me, so again many thanks for your very kind offer. Just goes to show that there are still genuinely nice people out there!
Your welcome Brian, im glad you got it all sorted in the end
We have been regular visitors to Conwy and Snowdonia since i was a small child, we used to stay on Gorse Hill caravan park with my parents, but its now mostly privately owned static caravans on there, so we have for the past few years been staying on a nice CL, after finding the owner of the Conwy Tourist park less than friendly on our last visit about 3 yrs ago, when we were tent campers, and the facilities there were also starting to show signs of their age and being in need of refurbishment.
The little CL were heading for on Sunday is lovely, we first found it over 10 yrs ago when we owned our last caravan, and the same owners recognised us when we called in to book earlier this year, when we were staying down at Bangor after rturning to caravanning last year, its so nice that we keep its location a secret, so we have more chance of getting a space when we book in the future!
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
We are in Bangor at the end of next week. We are staying with my daughter who lives there right opposite the sea. Will be a nice change and the caravan can stay at home.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Curtains
