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Old 07-24-2021, 11:51 PM   #1
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Curtains Again

I’m looking at ways to make curtains. I’m not a seamster so I want to keep it simple

saw these, that allow to lower from the top so the window can be opened while still having some privacy.

https://deliberatelifebus.wordpress....urtain-system/

Ideas?

Thanks!

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Old 07-25-2021, 05:57 AM   #2
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I plan on buying an used sewing machine. My dad was a sailmaker so maybe it's in my genes
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Old 07-25-2021, 06:06 AM   #3
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We kept it fairly simple too. The shades are fastened to the sill at the bottom and there's a rod pocket in the top that has a tension rod in it. The shades roll down from the top, and we adjust the top of the shade where its comfortable for us. Being able to adjust from the top down is pretty sweet.
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Old 07-25-2021, 08:50 AM   #4
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I plan on buying an used sewing machine. My dad was a sailmaker so maybe it's in my genes
Yeah, my mom made a lot of stuff. Maybe cheap imported goods made it less appealing? I picked up a used machine and haven’t used it much, but the other day I set it up to discover it bound up with old lubricant. I eventually got it to go and lay down a seam. Now I just got to finalize the plan and muster some skill
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Old 07-25-2021, 09:01 AM   #5
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Yeah, my mom made a lot of stuff. Maybe cheap imported goods made it less appealing? I picked up a used machine and haven’t used it much, but the other day I set it up to discover it bound up with old lubricant. I eventually got it to go and lay down a seam. Now I just got to finalize the plan and muster some skill
I think curtains should be at the lower level of skills required. At least that's what I'm hoping for. Go slow...
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Old 07-25-2021, 04:17 PM   #6
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I really like the idea of curtains that open downward (i.e. the same way the windows open). I'm hoping to make some similar to Drew Bru. Maybe your curtains are where I originally got the idea?? I can never remember....

Anyway, what I'd really like to do is get some of the nicer, spring-loaded aluminum-tube roller blinds and disable the clutch mechanism. I think that's what they call the 'catch' part that always catches at the wrong time and causes problems. So I want to permanently break that part so that the blinds always want to roll closed. My plan is to install the blinds upside-down at the bottom of the window so they roll upward. I have a bunch of old aluminum tent poles that I'll thread into the "top" of the blind and that will clip onto the top of the window with those plastic clips that hold your car hood support rod from flopping around while you drive:
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I'm not sure if I'm explaining it very well, but the idea is that the blinds will open along with the window glass. If you want the glass closed but the blinds open, you pop the tent poles out of the plastic clips and let the roller mechanism roll up the blind.
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Old 07-25-2021, 04:24 PM   #7
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I really like the idea of curtains that open downward (i.e. the same way the windows open). I'm hoping to make some similar to Drew Bru. Maybe your curtains are where I originally got the idea?? I can never remember....

Anyway, what I'd really like to do is get some of the nicer, spring-loaded aluminum-tube roller blinds and disable the clutch mechanism. I think that's what they call the 'catch' part that always catches at the wrong time and causes problems. So I want to permanently break that part so that the blinds always want to roll closed. My plan is to install the blinds upside-down at the bottom of the window so they roll upward. I have a bunch of old aluminum tent poles that I'll thread into the "top" of the blind and that will clip onto the top of the window with those plastic clips that hold your car hood support rod from flopping around while you drive:
Attachment 59834
I'm not sure if I'm explaining it very well, but the idea is that the blinds will open along with the window glass. If you want the glass closed but the blinds open, you pop the tent poles out of the plastic clips and let the roller mechanism roll up the blind.
That is a super good idea!
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Old 07-25-2021, 04:24 PM   #8
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I'm not sure if I'm explaining it very well, but the idea is that the blinds will open along with the window glass. If you want the glass closed but the blinds open, you pop the tent poles out of the plastic clips and let the roller mechanism roll up the blind.
I like this idea. Pricey, though - they have made-to-measure roller shades at Lowe's but they're $40 each.
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Old 07-25-2021, 04:42 PM   #9
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I like this idea. Pricey, though - they have made-to-measure roller shades at Lowe's but they're $40 each.
Holy crap! Never mind then. Normally my wife is the one who brings my pie-in-the-sky ideas back down to earth. She'll be relieved to know that you've squashed this one for her
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Old 07-25-2021, 04:47 PM   #10
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Holy crap! Never mind then. Normally my wife is the one who brings my pie-in-the-sky ideas back down to earth. She'll be relieved to know that you've squashed this one for her
I dunno, I'm already thinking of ways to DIY something like this. If you have to cut old ones apart to hack the roll-up mechanism, you could probably cut them down yourself to the width you want at the same time. I haven't seen that kind of shade anywhere in years, though - it's all mini-blinds these days.

What we really need in this world is cheap, stick-on self-opaquing liquid crystal sheets!
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Old 07-25-2021, 05:20 PM   #11
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What we really need in this world is cheap, stick-on self-opaquing liquid crystal sheets!
Let me know when you have that worked out! You've given me a new idea... why not just have an optometrist make up some prescription Transitions® windows?

Thanks for the reality check - I just had a quick look around the internet and $40 is on the low end for spring roller blinds. Some of the ones with cardboard tubes can be had for cheaper on Amazon, but they don't look well built.
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Old 07-25-2021, 05:45 PM   #12
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Let me know when you have that worked out!
My dad was a professor at Kent State University in Ohio, and after he retired they gave him an emeritus office in a new building on campus that was part of the Liquid Crystal Institute (a lot of the development of LCDs took place there starting in the '60s). It was amazing, the walls of every office were entirely composed of these glass panels that went from fully transparent to opaque at the flip of a switch.

I was told these things were going to become commonplace in just a few years. They lied!
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Old 07-25-2021, 05:55 PM   #13
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Curtain ideas

My wife bought black out curtains from Costco at a really good price. I bought curtain rails from Amazon at a good price. Attached is a photo of the inside of our newly bought bus. The gray curtains are the Costco brand. My wife bought the sheer curtains on ebay on the cheap. Used expandable rods and used existing screws to mount. Used rubber tubing for couplings to keep in place. We're still in the newbie stage on how we're going to lay everything out.
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Old 07-31-2021, 04:54 PM   #14
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Magnets. Hem LINED fabric and put rare earth magnets in the hem.
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Old 07-31-2021, 05:50 PM   #15
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Magnets. Hem LINED fabric and put rare earth magnets in the hem.
Speaking of magnets, did anyone notice in the curtain link the magnetic knife rack on the wall? That's some scary sh*t right there.
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Old 07-31-2021, 06:26 PM   #16
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Speaking of magnets, did anyone notice in the curtain link the magnetic knife rack on the wall? That's some scary sh*t right there.
My favorite bus so far was one that had a magnetic knife block directly behind the driver's head and a giant cast-iron skillet hung up right behind the passenger's head. If you're gonna die in a crash, you might as well make it as much like a Looney Tunes as you can.
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Old 07-31-2021, 09:17 PM   #17
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I used 1/2” EMT for our curtain rods. Used one hole straps to hold them up. We made the curtains cutting the fabric to a little larger size than the window to have a hem on the edges. No raw edges. We then used fabric glue to make the hems and made a hem on the bottom so that 3/8” all thread rod would fit in the hem. I drilled with a forstner bit to recess extremely powerful rare earth magnets into the shelf above. We can fold the curtains up behind themselves and the all thread rod locks onto the magnets, as you can see the curtains up by the passenger seat. It came out perfect. But my wife is left handed and I’m right handed…… I thought we were gonna kill each other before we finished !! JUST SAYING !!!
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Old 07-31-2021, 10:24 PM   #18
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I used 1/2” EMT for our curtain rods. Used one hole straps to hold them up. We made the curtains cutting the fabric to a little larger size than the window to have a hem on the edges. No raw edges. We then used fabric glue to make the hems and made a hem on the bottom so that 3/8” all thread rod would fit in the hem. I drilled with a forstner bit to recess extremely powerful rare earth magnets into the shelf above. We can fold the curtains up behind themselves and the all thread rod locks onto the magnets, as you can see the curtains up by the passenger seat. It came out perfect. But my wife is left handed and I’m right handed…… I thought we were gonna kill each other before we finished !! JUST SAYING !!!
Man, those curtains look fantastic. Do you have any more pics of your process for making and installing those? I want to do exactly the same thing while thinking and stressing as little as possible.
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Old 07-31-2021, 10:27 PM   #19
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This is the first time I've noticed those threaded-pipe shelf supports, too. Just awesomely creative.
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Old 07-31-2021, 11:47 PM   #20
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thermal and black out

curtains for a bus, so, the other day while wandering through a fabric store, I saw this stuff labeled as " curtain liner". This stuff was quilted, had a mylar inner layer. I think there was three or four layers of fabric. This is intended to sewn onto at least one layer of fabric for the design or colour you want the drapes to become. Some small addition of heat or cold insulation.

My intention is to use snaps. I might start with velcro and graduate to snaps if the velcro does not work...

here is the idea.... The curtains cover only two windows at a time... likely to be vinyl on the side that contacts the window glass. Whatever blows my hair back for the inside. - Think hippy acid trip psychedelic kind of prints.

With the curtain "open" it will snap up on the ceiling out of the way and the curtain will offer some sound adsorption. When down. there will be the fuzzy side for the velcro to hook onto... or snaps... eight snaps for each window one at each apex and one in the middle of each side. So for two windows, there are 13 snaps... five across the top and five across the bottom and three across halfway up.

I suppose one way of doing would be with black or white.... summer time put the white side out, winter put the black side out...... just an option. I intend to use the curtains only at night....

I intend to have something like quilts/blankets... snaped into place on the ceiling for insulation on the inside... I can take them down and wash when I want or change them out for different patterns/colours if I tire of looking at them.

some insulating, some pretty, some sound deadening all in one package.

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