Boat curtains

[derekh]

I have just taken delivery of an antares 1080. She is 10 years old and has seen only 158 hours of use. Problem is the covers are all in their original plastic bags which is good except for the fact that the sun has left all the curtains looking like some tie-die experiment. Is there any company who offers ready made specific curtains which might save swmbo the task of starting to unearth the sowing machine ?
Derek

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

I have just taken delivery of an antares 1080. She is 10 years old and has seen only 158 hours of use. Problem is the covers are all in their original plastic bags which is good except for the fact that the sun has left all the curtains looking like some tie-die experiment. Is there any company who offers ready made specific curtains which might save swmbo the task of starting to unearth the sowing machine ?
Derek

No off-the-shelf boat curtain supplier that I know of ... when I wanted to change the curtains on the T40 I took all the old ones to a local curtainmaker, picked a fabric, and they just copied the pattern from the old curtains. Worked perfectly.

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[grumpy_o_g]

http://www.mostynscurtains.co.uk/ There's loads round our way though and the prices vary tremendously. JtB has it right - I've done that for boats and a house (and a caravan but I'm keeping a low profile on that one). You may want to be a bit more generous in the width though - a lot of curtains seem a little tight on size, probably to save money.

 

[syd]

Have you thought about blinds? Lot cheaper and less work

Syd

 

[Trundlebug]

Following this thread with interest.

A few years ago just after we'd bought our boat and decided to fit new curtains (faded pink velour was very 80's and just had to go) we had a huge task on our hands just finding the right material.

We wanted something nautical - but not twee. Something tasteful, and subtle, but distinctly nautical - and neutral.

Well, we looked everywhere. Searched, and searched and searched.
On the internet - nothing
All the local and national chain fabric shops, lots of them - nothing
All the fabric shops we could find on the south coast, or anywhere coastal we happened to go - nothing
Even shops in Germany on a visit there - nothing suitable.

All the designs we found that had anything nautical about them were all very "kid's bedroom"
Either that or they would look fun on a 19 foot day cruiser but a bit silly on our mature 33ft full displacement tub. Not that's it's huge by any means, but whatever is fitted needs to be in keeping. Somehow sandcastles, buckets and spades didn't quite seem right.

A few potential suppliers in the states, found on the internet, still didn't seem to have anything that jumped out and said "That'll do".

Eventually, after 8 months of intensive looking we found some (end of line) material in a Dunelm. Magnolia coloured (neutral) with an embossed pattern design in the shape of a shell (like the oil company) was the closest we'd found to anything suitable, so we bought up all they had in 2 stores.

SWMBO did a good job of making them and we've been pleased overall, but glad it's not a job we have to do every year. What a struggle!

Lessons learnt:-
1. Most of the material and designs both in Europe and the USA is actually made in the UK. Yet not necessarily available in those designs in the UK.
2. Fabric designs seem to be very short lived. They make a big batch of one design, then move on to another, never to repeat.
3. Consequently what you find at any given time is down to timing. A couple of years after we'd sorted the problem, we came across all sorts of designs that would have probably been suitable. Typical!
4. Looking a new boats we noticed they either had blinds, or plain curtains. Nothing in the slightest bit nautically themed.
5. Looking abroad, walking around marinas in Germany and Finland, almost every boat had wonderfully nautically themed curtains. Where on earth did they get them from? I still don't know to this day. Even though I searched the internet in both those countries.

So good luck with your quest. I hope you're luckier (and less fussy) than we were!

 

[SlimRick]

Having never sewn anything in my life, I bought an £80 sewing machine from Argos and set about making replacement curtains for my boat - fairly time consuming, but for less than £100 all in (including the machine) I have a new set of fully lined curtains made using the old ones as templates.

 

[coliholic]

Doesn't John Lewis make curtains? Just take in your old one's and your credit card, pick a fabric and Robert is your Dad's brother.

If JL don't still do the make up service, they certainly sell the material and it can't be that hard to find someone to make them up in your area, I know here there's half a dozen adverts in our local paper

 

[derekh]

Many thanks for all the ideas. I don't think blinds would fit. Swmbo is going to try to dye them. When that doesn't work we will visit someone who can do a tasty job with new ones.

 

[maybh1]

Many thanks for all the ideas. I don't think blinds would fit. Swmbo is going to try to dye them. When that doesn't work we will visit someone who can do a tasty job with new ones.

Please don't try to dye them yourself - I can almost guarantee disaster

Try sending them to Bluemill Dyers in Leicester

They did the covers for our Tetrad suite and made a fabulous job of it

It has to be cheaper than having them remade

May
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