Has anyone ever added lining to curtains to block light?

[cmo]

I'm paying the price for choosing fashion over function! DD has been waking up ungodly early, and I think it is because her window treatments are letting in too much light. I think this is true because on rainy/cloudy days she sleeps at least an extra 30 minutes! Her room is on the southeast corner of the house, so it really gets smacked with full-force morning sun. So, instead of paying lots of $$$ to replace the cellular shades with light-blocking ones, I thought of putting a light-blocking liner on her curtains. They are corduroy, so they are somewhat sturdy and could probably handle the extra weight. But, I don't know where to start! What fabric is appropriate? Can I get it at any fabric store? Can I just baste it on, or do I need to lug out the sewing machine?

Any advice from those who are handy in this department is much appreciated!

Thanks,
Chris

[brigmaman]

So bizarre...I was thinking of posting this exact question but kept forgetting! I hope someone can answer for us!

[bcky2]

i am not handy in this area but with my ds a few things were suggested to me. one was a backing that needs to be sewn on. i think someone said that there is one that can be ironed on(i may be wrong) also the option of adding another shade. i ended up with my curtains with 2 sets of shades under them. i hope you find someone here that can help you more :)

[Marisa6826]

You can get blackout lining at any fabric store (usually). It probably would hang better if you used a machine, but I guess you could baste it on.

The nursery is also on the SE corner of our house, so I know the drill. I ended up going to Lowe's and getting faux white wood blinds. Makes a WORLD of difference!

-m

[TonFirst]

Since your curtains are corduroy, this should be easy!

Any fabric store sells room-darkening fabric for about $5/yard - usually less. If you're crafty, you can easily baste the room darkening fabric to the back of your existing curtains - this is what my mother did with her existing curtains when we visited her a few months ago.

It worked like a charm - I SWEAR by the room-arkening shade in my son's room. I had it custom-made when we were doing the nursery - it's a simple Roman shade, but it blocks the light in his west-facing room, and also helps keep his room cooler when the afternoon sun blasts that side of the house.

[BillK]

My wife and I had the same issue recently with our son and his cellular shades in his nursery.

I just popped off the cellular shades for now and bought the old fashioned round roller/spring light blocking shades for like $8.00 each at Lowe's and put them up. Seemed the cheapest and easiest short term fix for us. Once he's less inclined to get awake early I can always pop the cellulars back up.

[babymama]

We recently bought a product at Bel and Bath & Beyond called Black Out . It is a heavy thick almost vinyl-like liner. It includes magnet strips so that the liner stays sealed and doesn;t let in light in between the curtain panels.

It's made a world of difference.

Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03 and
One on the way, due 01/03/06

[mudder17]

Ha, ha, I just took some old flannel sheets (navy blue) and made curtains out of them for her room. With the blinds (white) and the curtains, her room is dark enough. Hmm...doesn't help you, but I guess if you want to keep the curtains, you could try lining them with a dark colored material that doesn't have to necessarily be heavy. Depending on the weight of it, you could probably just baste it on. Maybe some dark colored, light weight cotton?


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 15 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[lablover]

Well, my instant short-term fix was to drape a navy flannel sheet over the valance I have up (the window has mini-blinds that don't do squat for light blockage). There is also a smaller window above the valance that is uncovered, so I shoved my nursing pillow up there to block it. Well, a year later that is still the current setup. Really doesn't do much for the decor of the room! I really need to invest in some room darkening shades, but what can I do about that little window up top (I think it's called a transem window)? Is there something I can put on it? The window is probably 1' high and 2.5' wide. The window below is much wider - probably 5' wide. Oh well, at least the current setup is effective even if it's ugly.

[alkagift]

Like PP have mentioned, blackout liner is available at fabric stores cheaply. It doesn't fray much, but it would be better if you could sew it on. Depending on the liner, you may be able to use a fusible webbing (stitch witchery or something similar) to "glue" it on with an iron. The only issue would be if the lining you're using has a plastic component that would melt--some do.

In addition to BBandBeyond, JC Penney sells blackout liners you can just add to your curtains.

For us, we did like Bill mentioned since DS's room is on the back of the house--we bought the nicest blackout roller shades they had at Home Depot and those work great.

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, who is TWO!

[HGraceMom]

DD has the same issue in her room - unfortunately, I didn't have curtains in the dormer window, only a valence...

so we started with the valence

I bought faux wooden blinds
added them to the valence

still too much light...

I bought a room darkening shade
added to the faux wooden blinds
and the valence...

light still filters in the edges, & the room won't accomidate curtains... "Mommy it's wake up time, the sun is shining!" (sigh.)

If the curtains you've hung aren't opened & shut multiple times a day, I'd go ahead & baste a blackout liner to the curtains - if you open & shut them a lot, go ahead & have them sewn in with a machine (it shouldn't cost much if you can't do it, b/c it's basically sewing 3 straignt lines to join them together.) JoAnn, maybe even WalMart sells the liner for really really cheap!
Good luck...

[Mikesa3]

At our last house we bought a vinyl window cling that darken the room. You cut it the size you need and it stuck to the window.It worked great and can peel back off if needed. I think we bought it at Lowes. I'm planning on getting some heavy denim to make curtains for the two big windows in my ds room since they been waking up early too. It would take a lot of the cling stuff to cover them plus all of our windows in front have mini blinds to look the same. I'd recommend the cling stuff as a easy fix.
Nancy-Mom to 6 great kids

[jadamom]

I just ordered this: http://www.natlallergy.com/cgi-bin/MySQLdb?MYSQL_VIEW=/cart/display/view.txt
Hope it works!

Blackout Drapery Kit
Create Nature's Perfect Environment For Sleep Day Or Night!

Blackout Drapery Kit Whether you do shift work and sleep during daylight hours or simply need to shut out extra outside light at night, our "blackout" drapery liner helps create a perfect nighttime environment any time of day. These heavy-duty drapes also help to hush noise, ensure privacy, insulate against heat and cold and save energy. The patented magnetic closure seals tightly to prevent gaps when closed. Just place the blackout drapes (white on both sides) behind your existing window curtains using your existing drapery rod - no tools needed to install. Kit includes: Two blackout liners, two magnetic strips & drapery hooks.

[kochh2]

glad to hear I'm not the only one with dark flannel sheets tacked up-- what do you expect from the sleep deprived?? heheh

[himom]

We're in the same boat here, and I finally got frustrated enough to go buy blackout material last week. Walmart has it for about $4.49/yd. I think I'm just going to sew it on.

Does anyone know if this increases or decreases heat in the room? It has been so hot lately that I hate to think I'm going to make it worse by trapping the air inside. But if it's sun-blocking effects keep some of the heat out, maybe it'll be okay.

Jodi

[ilovetivo]

I have blackout roll down shades mounted on the outside of the frame, as our windows are crooked. But it's the light from the top and sides that wake dd up early. (on really cloudy days she sleeps 2 hrs later). I bought some heavier ultrasuade panels and put them around the sides and top. It still doesn't help very much. Any suggestions?

[ilovetivo]

Where are the magnets? Between the curtains to hook them together or on the sides to attach to the window frame?

[starrynight]

Put tin foil on the windows and it blocks out all light and makes the room cooler too.

[ilovetivo]

where? on the whole window? i'd still like to use them :)