Whether you are a DIY enthusiast or not, the idea of leaving your own mark on the place you live is a very appealing idea. Imagine the pride you will feel as you show off your creative powers to friends. If you have a trusty tailor to execute your designs, all you need is to find the right curtain fabric. Now this can be both easy and hard to do. Easy because there is such a wide range of curtain fabrics types and colours to choose from, you are guaranteed to find something that you will like. Hard because the host of options can get confusing. Here are some pointers to guide you.

First you need to know the effect you want to achieve in the room. Do you want the room to be full of light and a breezy feel? Linen would be a good choice to achieve this effect due to its lightness. It is highly permeable to both sunrays and air. However, due to its lightness, it can easily crease or loose shape. Linen also stains and tears easily and would therefore be unadvisable if you have toddlers in the house. For an expensive feel, silk would be the obvious choice. It gives the room a glossy appearance, especially in dark green, purple or maroon. Silk is costly and is not the easiest to launder, which is why most people settle for cotton.

There are some basics to be considered when ordering the fabric after deciding which of the curtain fabrics best suits your purpose. Other than the window measurements, you need to take into account the number of folds you want your curtain to have as well as the size of its hem when determining the length of fabric you need. You also need to add an extra metre or two to your measurements to cater for any errors your tailor might make.

A great DIY resource is ThreadBanger.