Curtains. What would you do?

I had some curtains given to me which said dry clean only, thinking it would be safe to wash I put them on a gentle wash they came out lovely and clean but when they dried I went to iron them and found that the lining had shrunk! oops!

I haven't read the whole thread but I've just washed dry clean curtains and found that apart from shrinking one centre curtain is very slightly shorter than its mate. I've sewn a £2 coin in the hem of the shorter one and it seems to have worked. Took about a week and I damped the corner.

If your curtains touch the sill, you will eventually get soiling on the bottom edge (I dont care how often you dust the sill - it will happen). Complain to JL and ask them to shorten the curtains so that they hang 1cm above the sill. You/they will need to take meticulous drop measurements all the way along the bottom edge. Or it could be that the track/pole has been fitted unevenly. Whatever, the JL measurer didnt do a proper job.

Reported

Just wondering if it would make a difference swopping the two curtains across and and putting each 'outside edge' to the centre.

That could work

Yes, it could be the sill that is 'off'.
Indeed in our house it is the lounge floor that is off !!

Are DDs curtains actually the same length at the centre as at the sides?
Apologies if this has already been mentioned.
Just wondering if it would make a difference swopping the two curtains across and and putting each 'outside edge' to the centre.

Regarding adjusting the hooks hanging on the curtain tape - I meant to slightly lower the hook on the tape threads towards the centre (and not raise the hook as I previously stated).

Welshwife You could be right in that it may affect how they would hang.
I was just talking as an idea came to me.
However I didn't mean to change the level of the hook just at the centre, I meant to lower the hooks gradually as they worked across the tape from the side.
It's possible they still might not hang properly but it was just a thought .

The curtain fabric itself is not being made longer in the centre, just adjusting how the hooks/tape are fitted together to allow perhaps 1cm towards the centre.
I can't see how this would affect the pattern and make it wrong. It's still the same two edges that have been unaltered in any way.

Yes, it was in daylight Welshwife and that did show up the gap a lot.

Her sister is going to have a word with her about them. I'm off the hook. (no pun intended)

Elegran I agree with you.

I would do nothing at all for at least six months - I realised only a few days ago how my dining room curtains have dropped - when I made them and we hung them I thought they were a bit short but I had purposely made them to be off the floor as they are very pale and onto a wooden floor. OH said he would lower the pole but I decided to leave them. The curtains are about two and a half metres long and have dropped a good couple of centimetres.
I think that if the curtains are hung by altering a hook and it is put into a higher slot the curtains will look much worse as they will not hang correctly. If the fabric is patterned and they are made longer in the centre the pattern will be wrong at the bottom. I dare say you were looking at them in daylight and the light would show the gap up far more than when it is dark outside.

That is a good reason for adjusting the curtain rail, not the curtains.

The thing is, if the curtains are altered so that they're slightly longer in the centre, where they meet, then when they are pulled back those centre edges would drape on the sill and then that would look wrong. If that is the case, perhaps the main consideration should be: when do you want the curtains to look right? In the daytime when they are open? Or at night when they're closed?

I think your DD should get JL back. They must surely have come across 'crooked' houses before!

If the curtains are heavy fabric then just catching the top of the threads at the centre might not be strong enough, but if the idea worked, it would be a start.

Or complain to JL.

Thinking about the curtain tape at the top which is used for gathering.
We're talking basic standard pleating tape. There is generally at least two different levels on the tape, sometimes 3 levels. On each level there are several threads (about 4) going across each section making the bit for the hook to catch.

I'm thinking choose the level for the hooks, which has already been done.
Now, coming to the 'threads' making up the bit that the hook goes onto.
At the sides choose the suitable ordinary full thready bit...... then going towards the centre could the hooks work their way up the threads eventually at the centre just catching onto the top of the thready bit.... giving just a tiny bit of more length.

Just a thought....

Have used JL for 3 sets of curtains in the last five years. I did the measuring and hanging .All perfect .I'd certainly have them back

You could drop the centre of the rail a centimetre.
Or take out the whole window sill and get it replaced with one that is straight

Or, for that price, phone JL and get them to sort it out.
A friend paid a lot for JL curtains to be made and fitted, and she said that they are not right.

Or say nothing as your DD is happy. Just give the centre of each curtain a little tug every time you go there while she has gone to make you a cuppa.

Complain , it`s not acceptable for £800 .
I personally would faint at the thought of paying that but that's just me I expect

Perhaps curtain weights in the hem of the inside edges would pull the curtains down by 1 cm

How long have the curtains been up? They do drop after a while.
That doesn't help the gap only being in the middle though.

Thanks Franny and fffin. Will do it.

Of the two pairs of curtains made by JL for us, both had to be remade, with one pair having to be remade TWICE! We ended up having the manager of the department coming out to our house with an assistant who both admitted that the curtains had been badly made, different lengths, designs not matching and the linings not straight. I wouldn't use JL for curtains again (or carpets but that's another story). Jings, tell your DD to complain. It's a huge amount to pay for curtains which do not hang properly.

I agree with minimouse about drop measurements.

The mini gap would drive me crazy. Regardless of the cost, wrong is just wrong, as you say J

I would get back to JL .

Thanks all.

Minimouse that's what I think TBH.

jalima plenty of dust

It might not be quite so bad if it was the same all along, but it's just the middle bits. I think the sill must dip in the middle.

I think I'm gonna mention it.

merlot I thought about that, but jobs aren't always "got round to" IYSWIM.