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Good Questions: Source or Ideas for Laser Cut Curtains?

hunsaker0312509.jpgKatrina writes: Can you please tell me where I can find curtains similar to the orange ones featured in the "Inspiration: Alissa Hunsaker Photography" post? I have bay windows in my living room, which lets in a lot of sunlight- a good thing! However, I live on the first floor and am close to the sidewalk so I don't want people to be able to see everything in my home!

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These curtains seemed like the perfect solution to let in enough sunlight and have the privacy I'm looking for. Please help!

Got any ideas for Katrina? Please let her know in the comments...

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Comments (13)

weren't these from ikea? i can't find them on the website but i swear they were... or they had something very similar.

they do have other types of panel curtains in their textiles section though so you may wanna check that out.

posted by erinpearce on March 25th 2009 at 1:28pm
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I think these are from IKEA... I think they were originally long felt panels, and were cut into shorter pieces.

posted by arroyo on March 25th 2009 at 1:32pm
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Maybe you can DIY some with hole-punch/awl/other tool and a fabric that doesn't run, like faux-suede. I don't sew much but I know there are some types of fabric that can be cut where the edges will not run or unravel, so picking a fabric like that would probably allow you to create a pattern of punches without needing to sew up all the little holes' edges. Just cut the fabric to the size you want, draw the pattern on the fabric, punch away.

posted by ibislynn on March 25th 2009 at 1:43pm
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Ah, looks familiar because we house toured this Eichler space before! It's actually a Los Angeles home.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/house-tours/la-house-tour-cindy-and-harveys-eichler-original-050312

posted by gregory on March 25th 2009 at 2:18pm
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Depending on what type fabric you use, or how much you care what the curtains look like from outside you could iron some interfacing on the back of the fabric panels before you cut them. This would stop a lot of unraveling and make the curtains stiffer and hang straighter.

posted by Rolen the Great on March 25th 2009 at 2:52pm
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these are from ikea, I bought them a few years back. They were designed to be used with the Kvartal system.

posted by dennisd on March 25th 2009 at 3:02pm
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Yep, it's Ikea. We have them in our bedroom and office. Our cat loves to grab them. I used some of the extra fabric to make a coffee sleeve. Felt is a wonderfully easy fabric to work with.

Elizabeth
http://emblemorstain.blogspot.com

posted by emblem or stain on March 25th 2009 at 3:15pm
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You could have these custom made pretty easily. A few years ago I worked briefly at a custom-flag making shop and we used a laser plotter to cut the pieces of fabric to be sewn. The plotter software took any vector (ie. EPS or AI) file and would then cut the fabric. We used nylon material, so the laser melted the edges to prevent fraying. Any sign shop will have a similar plotter and the material is cheap.

posted by brad bane on March 25th 2009 at 4:17pm
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I may be off-base here, but there was a similar idea in Martha Stewart Living in February. Try marthastewart.com/scalloped-shade

posted by 2kidsandus on March 26th 2009 at 12:28am
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If you got some fabric with nylon in it, you could probably make a version using a cigarette!

posted by home body on March 26th 2009 at 9:08am
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Step one: Buy some felt

Step two: buy a screw punch (google!)

Step three: punch away!

posted by Modfan on March 26th 2009 at 11:26am
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Just a heads up -- felt often fades SEVERLY. Like a bright colored felt can fade all the way back to cream over time. (On the sunny side of the curtain.) So you might want to know this before choosing to use the material, or at least to ask where you buy it about sun-fastness. (Maybe there are some newer felts that don't fade. Don't know.)

posted by SherryBinNH on March 27th 2009 at 10:40am
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We do laser cut wood window coverings. It's a different look but the same idea...

http://www.lightwavelaser.com/custom-window-covers.htm

posted by Lightwave on April 18th 2009 at 1:09am
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