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what about just making them yourself from vintage fabric?

http://reprodepotfabrics.com/ is a great resource for vintage looking fabrics and they have several in home decor weight.

jblue beat me to the punch. I used to work at reprodepot and the fabric selection there is great! Lovely small business.

The fabric is easy to find, but what do you do with it? Anybody know of any online sewing patterns for curtains? I'm willing to give it a go, despite my complete lack of experience and my profound phobia of my new sewing machine.

I would also suggest checking out ebay for some original vintage fabric as well. It is sometimes tricky to find enough yardage for curtains but it can be done.

While I'm not sewing whiz myself, curtains seems fairly easy. Its basically just a big rectangle with finished edges and either tab tops at the top or a seam a curtain rod can fit through. I bet if you looked at other drapes you have in your home it would be pretty easy to copy (again, a simple design).

I've always done this: big rectangle of fabric - hem all the edges 1/2" or so, same size rectangle of white backing fabric, same hemming. Then just sandwich the two together and stitch the hemmed edges together. Easy as pie. You can sew on some tabs later, or use big open grommets.

JCA:

You say you haven't found the right pattern. What is the right pattern? Describe it. Provide a link to what is close.

TRUE BLUE:

Well, it was mentioned in the original question but didn't include the link. We like the patterns/styles as seen at Contempo Curtains.

OK. I still don't know what colors you are attracted to.

Check out the big name fabrics here:
http://www.jandofabrics.com/categories.asp?id=20

You'll see some of the same fabrics as shown on Contempo here:
http://www.housefabric.com/categorysubview.asp?CategoryID=97&CategorySubID=257

More fabrics here:
http://www.retroonline.com/fabrics.html

And even more!
http://www.tonicliving.com/index.asp

There are some cool barkcloth Atomic designs:
http://www.barkclothhawaii.com/upholst/oaviews/honolulup.htm

A couple here:
http://shopcraftyplanet.com/store/home.php?cat=31

Anything you like?

I ordered some fabrics from Housefabric.com which looked great on the internet. When they arrived the cotton was really cheap and one of the fabrics was polyester and shiny and I couldn't use it. Their customer service is terrible. They say they guarantee quality. They won't consider returning anything, ever.

Try any of the other on-line companies but this one is bad news. Google: housefabric.com quality to see for yourself.

You should try

http://www.idreamofdrapery.com

They have a good selection of fabric, but if you tell them what you are looking for they will search it out and email you pictures until you find the right fabric. You can also order panels in any length which is really nice.