Drapery question

[sammamishsafari]

Hi,

I am in the process of sewing my pinch pleated drapes copying from my rotted originals. This is for my 65 Airstream Safari.

My windows have an elastic cord strung under the window that threads through plastic rings on the inside of the drapes. The cord on my trailer is very stretched out and the rings are broken and in most cases gone on the originals. What I hope to find out is this. Is the cord on the wall under the windows supposed to be taut to the wall or with some extra length? Also, it appears the rings are hooked only to the lining on the originals and not throught the facing? This seems odd and I want to be sure this is correct. I would think the rings should catch the facing as well so that the drapes are held a little to the window. Wouldnt the facing hang away and the lining would be the only fabric hugging the windows otherwise? I just don't get how this works! I hope this makes sense. Hope somebody has the answers for me and thanks very much!

Julia

[Herritt]

I just finishing making drapes for my 73 tradewind. They were not hard at all. Just a bet time consuming. But very pleased with the results. I have double pleats in the front side and single pleats on the back side. Makes for a very nice fullness.

[overlander64]

Greetings Julia!

On the mid-1960s coaches, the elastic served the purpose of helping the drapery conform to the curvature of the coach's sides. The way that it was explained to me, the elastic needs to be taught to serve this purpose; but not so tight as to make movement of the drapes difficult.

I will admit that when I had new drapes made for my '64 Overlander that I didn't have the elastic included - - the sides of the drapes snap to the wall, and the drapes were made approximately 3" longer to compensate for the curvature - - this has worked quite well in my coach.

Good luck with your project!

Kevin

[53flyingcloud]

Julia,

Is the cord on the wall under the windows supposed to be taut to the wall or with some extra length? Also, it appears the rings are hooked only to the lining on the originals and not throught the facing? This seems odd and I want to be sure this is correct. I would think the rings should catch the facing as well

The elastic cord (?) is held very taut so as to keep the curtain tightly in place.
I'm not sure what type of channel your unit has to retain the curtains in place but those nylon attachments are held taut and, when finish, give the curtain a nice ‘tucked look’.
As I remembered it, it attached to the backing in such a way as not to show thru the front of the curtain's material~
Good luck on your project. It’ll make your interior's appearance look fresh ~!
I hope I understood your question correctly and, was able to offer some insight.
ciao

[sammamishsafari]

Thanks for everyones help.

I actually had finished the drapes before I received your replies and this is what I figured out.

The rings I refer to are the tiny plastic rings that get sewn onto the lining near the hem. I ended up sewing them to the lining only, as I figured the lining is sewn into the sides so there is not much "swing" outward anyway. I have not yet threaded the elastic through the rings or attached the elastic to the wall yet but now I will make it taut as you suggest.

I made my drapes exactly to the originals and all hand stitched (I'm particular with detail) and they look better than the originals! I did make a set for the galley after much thought about being over the sink, but the dumb window opener/winder was stuck out so far I had to go with drapes instead of the great aluminum blind I saw in "Maxwell". I did decide to sew the rings through to the facing on this set so that the fabric would stay even closer to the window once fastened with the elastic.

I agree that a nice set of drapes really makes the interior so lux. It took weeks but now I"m done and the trailer is almost totally finished otherwise. We are so excited to get it on the road!

Julia