Can you add a lining to curtains that don't have one? Often, yes, without remaking the panels. It changes the hang, the insulation and the look of the curtain in a single operation.
Here is what I alter on existing curtains, and what I turn down.
The four alterations
The lining, which I add or replace. The heading, the top of the curtain, where the tape, hooks or grommets are. The width, when the window changes. The length, which has its own page: for a hem, to shorten a curtain that is too long or lengthen one that is too short, see my repairs and alterations page.
The first three mean looking at the fabric before promising anything.
The lining: adding one, or replacing it
If you like your curtains but they lack density or opacity, they can often be lined without remaking the panels. The hang, the insulation and the look all change at once.
Which lining depends on what you want from it:
- Thermal: an acrylic-coated cloth, white or cream, sometimes with a reflective aluminium layer. It blocks the cold radiating from the glass and adds weight. I explain it in my post on thermal curtains in winter.
- Blackout: it stops the light at the window. It doesn't solve everything, because light comes in mostly around the sides and over the top. The width of the panel and the height of the rod matter as much as the lining.
I mount the lining with some slack so the face fabric and the lining can move freely against each other. The two cloths don't shrink at the same rate, which is enough to twist a panel.
A worn lining behind a face fabric that still looks good can be replaced too. The lining wears out long before the face fabric: it takes the sun and the moisture from the glass while the cloth facing the room barely ages. Replacing it costs a fraction of the price of a new pair, and it is often the only way to keep a fabric that is no longer made.
The heading: repairing it or rebuilding it
A torn-off tape, missing hooks, grommets that have come out: these are quick repairs, and clearly worth doing.
When a heading is crushed, it can be reshaped if the interfacing hasn't been destroyed. If it has, I rebuild the heading. That costs more than a quick fix, but far less than a new panel.
The width: a new window
After a move, your curtains often have to fit a window of a different width.
Narrower. Reducing a curtain by more than 20% in width means unpicking the whole panel and recutting it. The seam always shows, and the hang never comes back the way it was, because the original pleats have marked the fabric. That is one of the jobs I turn down.
Wider. I work with yardage I can't increase. If the panel doesn't have the width your window needs, I tell you so, and I give you an idea of what a made-to-measure panel for that window would cost. Then you decide, with no obligation.
What I turn down
I turn down work on fabric that the sun has cooked: its fibres have lost their strength, and the tear comes back right beside the repair. I tell you before I sew anything.
Same answer for a panel whose fabric is worth less than the workroom hours it would take.
How it works
Call me at 873 200-4056 with your curtains in front of you. Describe the panels, the window they are going to and what you would like to change, or show them to me.
I answer with an estimate, which is free, or I tell you plainly that it isn't worth it. I also take curtains that weren't made in my Sherbrooke atelier. The detail of what I do for existing curtains is on my repairs and alterations page.
Common questions
Can you add a lining to existing curtains?
Often, yes, without remaking the panels. It changes the hang, the insulation and the look of the curtain.
Can you replace a worn lining when the face fabric is still good?
Yes. It is a routine job in the atelier, and it costs a fraction of the price of a new pair.
What can be done about a crushed curtain heading?
It can be reshaped if the interfacing hasn't been destroyed. If it has, I rebuild the heading, which costs less than a new panel.
Can curtains be made narrower for a smaller window?
Within limits. Reducing by more than 20% in width means unpicking the panel and recutting it, and the original hang does not come back, so I turn that job down. For a wider window, yardage can't be increased.
