I wanted to show off my cabin curtains because of some lessons learned - and I came up with a different way of attaching the glide tape brackets:
Here's a close-up of the glide bracket on the track:
I had trouble sewing the glide tape to my curtain fabric - I didn't have a presser foot narrow enough to get close enough to the glide brackets and my fabric was kind of flimsy (polyester suiting, not a home-dec fabric) so the tape kept shifting on me - argh! In a fit of desperation, I cut the tape between the gliders and then sewed the tape to the fabric on the sides (rather than top & bottom). Then I trimmed away the excess tape to about 1/8" from the stitch line. Worked great!
The curtain doesn’t “pleat” as much without the glide tape, but that’s OK.
If I make another curtain, I'm going to cut 1" circles around the glide brackets so there aren't any sharp corners, then I'm going to use velcro dots (glue-on or stitch-on, I’m not sure which) to attach the glide bracket to the curtain (scratchy-side on the bracket, soft side on the curtain) so I can easily take them off for washing.
Here's a picture of the window curtain:
I wanted to allow more light into the cabin (we were sleeping too well!) so I made the curtain a single layer, hemmed on all sides. It's a pretty pattern, but I think it's too dark - you can't really see it through the window from the outside and the opacity isn't quite right from the inside.
Next time, I'm going to look for a nice, bright print that will show up better and I'm going to make a double-layer curtain (stitched wrong sided together and then turned) so there are no corners to mitre and no plaid to OCD over!
The fabric is a “fashion fabric” so I sprayed it with some "Force Field UV Sunblock" I bought at Jo-anne - we'll see how it holds up. I would recommend a Sunbrella-type fabric.
Here's a picture of the curtain open:
I made the curtain 28” X 21” - 2" wider and 2" longer than the glide track (my Camp-Inn curtain is 28" X 20"). We were having some trouble opening the window with the curtain closed and I thought the extra length would help. But I didn't like the way the curtain draped with the extra length (I wanted it to look more “tailored.”) so I decided to leave the bottom edge un-attached (like a cafe curtain). On our next trip, the curtain kept billowing in when the Fantastic Fan was on - I could have used some drapery weights, but I decided to attach some extra brackets on the bottom corners to keep the curtain down. Next time, I'll make the curtain the same size as the Camp-Inn curtain (28" X 20") - there’s plenty of coverage at the bottom of the window.
Because the glide track is only 1" from the inside (hinge) edge of the door, I sewed my first bracket as close to the curtain edge as possible. Because the glide track is pretty much in line with the edge of the window on the outside (handle) edge, I sewed my last bracket about 1" in from the curtain edge so there's some extra overlap on that side.
Originally, I had a small piece of 1/4” doweling sewn into both (side) edges of the curtain to help open/close the curtain - they actually worked well, by my fabric was too flimsy to support the extra weight so I took them out.
Here's a picture of the front window curtain:
I decided to make the curtain go the entire width of the cabin. I think it looks pretty sharp.
I made my curtains 30” X 14” - 1” wider and 2” (4” total) longer than the glide track (my Camp Inn curtains are 24” X 14”). I sewed the outside (wall-side) brackets as close to the curtain edges as possible - the corners are clipped into the end caps and they'll stay there. I sewed the inside brackets about 2" from the curtain edge so when they come together on the glide track, the curtains will overlap. I considered using some magnets to hold the plys together, but again, my fabric was too flimsy to support the extra weight. So I decided to sew some large hook & eye's at the top and bottom edges to keep the curtain closed. You can sort-of see the hook & eye's when the curtain is closed but I wanted to make sure we could open/close the curtain easily, at night. Next time, I’ll probably make the curtain with a little less center overlap, maybe 29” X 14.”
Here's a picture of the curtain open:
As you can see, the curtain sort of droops in front of the cabin light - again, flimsy fabric? I thought my husband might not like it, but he said it's OK.
One thing I wish I had known - the glide brackets will snap onto the track without unscrewing the little end caps and sliding them on from the end - that was a real pain in the neck!
Here's a close-up of the glide bracket on the track:
I had trouble sewing the glide tape to my curtain fabric - I didn't have a presser foot narrow enough to get close enough to the glide brackets and my fabric was kind of flimsy (polyester suiting, not a home-dec fabric) so the tape kept shifting on me - argh! In a fit of desperation, I cut the tape between the gliders and then sewed the tape to the fabric on the sides (rather than top & bottom). Then I trimmed away the excess tape to about 1/8" from the stitch line. Worked great!
The curtain doesn’t “pleat” as much without the glide tape, but that’s OK.
If I make another curtain, I'm going to cut 1" circles around the glide brackets so there aren't any sharp corners, then I'm going to use velcro dots (glue-on or stitch-on, I’m not sure which) to attach the glide bracket to the curtain (scratchy-side on the bracket, soft side on the curtain) so I can easily take them off for washing.
Here's a picture of the window curtain:
I wanted to allow more light into the cabin (we were sleeping too well!) so I made the curtain a single layer, hemmed on all sides. It's a pretty pattern, but I think it's too dark - you can't really see it through the window from the outside and the opacity isn't quite right from the inside.
Next time, I'm going to look for a nice, bright print that will show up better and I'm going to make a double-layer curtain (stitched wrong sided together and then turned) so there are no corners to mitre and no plaid to OCD over!
The fabric is a “fashion fabric” so I sprayed it with some "Force Field UV Sunblock" I bought at Jo-anne - we'll see how it holds up. I would recommend a Sunbrella-type fabric.
Here's a picture of the curtain open:
I made the curtain 28” X 21” - 2" wider and 2" longer than the glide track (my Camp-Inn curtain is 28" X 20"). We were having some trouble opening the window with the curtain closed and I thought the extra length would help. But I didn't like the way the curtain draped with the extra length (I wanted it to look more “tailored.”) so I decided to leave the bottom edge un-attached (like a cafe curtain). On our next trip, the curtain kept billowing in when the Fantastic Fan was on - I could have used some drapery weights, but I decided to attach some extra brackets on the bottom corners to keep the curtain down. Next time, I'll make the curtain the same size as the Camp-Inn curtain (28" X 20") - there’s plenty of coverage at the bottom of the window.
Because the glide track is only 1" from the inside (hinge) edge of the door, I sewed my first bracket as close to the curtain edge as possible. Because the glide track is pretty much in line with the edge of the window on the outside (handle) edge, I sewed my last bracket about 1" in from the curtain edge so there's some extra overlap on that side.
Originally, I had a small piece of 1/4” doweling sewn into both (side) edges of the curtain to help open/close the curtain - they actually worked well, by my fabric was too flimsy to support the extra weight so I took them out.
Here's a picture of the front window curtain:
I decided to make the curtain go the entire width of the cabin. I think it looks pretty sharp.
I made my curtains 30” X 14” - 1” wider and 2” (4” total) longer than the glide track (my Camp Inn curtains are 24” X 14”). I sewed the outside (wall-side) brackets as close to the curtain edges as possible - the corners are clipped into the end caps and they'll stay there. I sewed the inside brackets about 2" from the curtain edge so when they come together on the glide track, the curtains will overlap. I considered using some magnets to hold the plys together, but again, my fabric was too flimsy to support the extra weight. So I decided to sew some large hook & eye's at the top and bottom edges to keep the curtain closed. You can sort-of see the hook & eye's when the curtain is closed but I wanted to make sure we could open/close the curtain easily, at night. Next time, I’ll probably make the curtain with a little less center overlap, maybe 29” X 14.”
Here's a picture of the curtain open:
As you can see, the curtain sort of droops in front of the cabin light - again, flimsy fabric? I thought my husband might not like it, but he said it's OK.
One thing I wish I had known - the glide brackets will snap onto the track without unscrewing the little end caps and sliding them on from the end - that was a real pain in the neck!
