Club 80-90 Forums

Looking for help from all you sewers out there! My wife's sewing machine has barley been touched since she got it , so I thought I'd put it to good use making new curtains for our van
Decisions so far are to have the pattern facing in and to use blackout lining, but here's the tricky bit...
I reckon on needing about 10m of material to do all round the van. I was looking at fabric that was plain or pattern orientated so that I could cut one roll width in half lengthways giving 10m of curtain from a 5m length as purchased. I then asked my mother about this and she's adamant that no, I need to be making curtains that are the width of the roll of material. However, at 54inches wide that won't cover the front/ rear screens and I'm concerned that I'll end up with too many sets of curtain doing it that way.
I'd have thought that by splitting one length to give me two 10m lengths I'd have the most flexibility as to where I cut it to make bespoke curtains as opposed to just making enough 54" wide sets to 'do' me.
I also appreciate that if I do it my way, then I'll not be able to have extra length for the windscreen and that the curtains will drop straight down from the tracking.
Any thoughts much appreciated!

From one of my previous posts

My 2 penny worth

Go to a fabric shop that sell the bedding sets.. Duvet cover, 2 pillow cases, and one set of curtains to match.[usually in one packet and cheap] buy 2 sets and you can self line the curtains and make loads of scatter cushions covers.

Use one of the duvet covers and 2 or 4 pillows covers as designed. The rest just cut up and use for the curtains. you should be able to cut the curtains double length, hem all around and then fold in half [making sure you buy a fabric that looks the same upside down] you will have thick curtains [no need for thermal lining] then just sew the tape along the fold [now the top] and hook onto track.. you should have enough to put quite a bit of fullness to make the heading look a bit descent instead of a flat look when closed [at night]
Not only will they look better you will have a complete matching look to the inside of your van.

The only windows that does not drop down is the back door. Normaly it has a net wire thread through so when the door is opened it does not hang in you face. If you want them to hang and not move in the breeze sew magnets in the bottom (cheap from eBay)

Thanks, all good points and much appreciated.

I used 10 meters of both lining ( blackout and thermal) and curtain material, with very little left over,