cuilleree
New member
Long Overdue Curtains
Curtains have been on my to-do list for many many months so I could have some privacy when camping in public areas. Last November I ended up sleeping at a rest stop for lack of a better spot, and I had to resort to this:
My goals for the curtains were:
My local fabric store was going out of business, so I got about six yards of navy blue fabric with a print for pretty cheap. I would have preferred something solid, but it wasn't in the stars.
The fabric is 45" wide, and since the height of the windows is only 16", I was able to simply fold it down the middle to create a panel about 22" wide, which is plenty extra to cover above and below the windows.
Once I had a basic panel cut, I tested it out and realized that my best bet for attachments would be two attachment points for each curtain panel: The cargo coat hook aft and the sun visor arm forward. With the right tension, the curtain panel would stay taut and not sag.
I bought some 3mm utility cord and a set of two toggles (link is for "up to 4mm"--make sure to get the "up to 3mm" size for better tension) and borrowed my friend's grommet kit. I added two grommets to each curtain panel: One in the upper aft corner and one near the upper forward corner. I added a loop of cord to the aft grommet and a smaller loop of cord to the forward grommet with the toggle. The forward loop needs to be just big enough to go around the sun visor; the toggle is for cinching this loop down to tension the curtain panel.
Here are some pics:
Panel with cord loops (right is forward, left is aft). The panels are the same, just mirror images of each other and so are interchangeable on either side of the truck.
Curtains are in!
It's important to cinch down the toggle to get the curtain taut, which means it's also important to get this grommet in the right place.
Which brings me to my one pending modification...
Because the panel hangs straight down, I'd like to create a tie-back to keep it closer to the side of the truck. This will increase privacy and keep it from flapping in my face if it's breezy. The tie-back will just be a strip of double-sided Velcro that will be sewn to the panel in just the right place and will be able to loop around the seatbelt.
Note: Because of the shape of the coat hooks, the loop of cord slips off unless you pop open the bolt cover. Then it stays no problem.
This didn't take too long and they turned out pretty well. I'm hoping the print will grow on me... If not, I'll give these away and start over in black!
Curtains have been on my to-do list for many many months so I could have some privacy when camping in public areas. Last November I ended up sleeping at a rest stop for lack of a better spot, and I had to resort to this:
My goals for the curtains were:
- Privacy when sleeping in the truck
- Allowing air flow through the truck when camping with the windows down
- Ingress/egress through all four doors when curtains are in place, so no attachments to the doors
- Blocking light so I can sleep in (and so I can watch movies on the laptop when the weather is bad)
- Easy to store/not bulky
My local fabric store was going out of business, so I got about six yards of navy blue fabric with a print for pretty cheap. I would have preferred something solid, but it wasn't in the stars.
The fabric is 45" wide, and since the height of the windows is only 16", I was able to simply fold it down the middle to create a panel about 22" wide, which is plenty extra to cover above and below the windows.
Once I had a basic panel cut, I tested it out and realized that my best bet for attachments would be two attachment points for each curtain panel: The cargo coat hook aft and the sun visor arm forward. With the right tension, the curtain panel would stay taut and not sag.
I bought some 3mm utility cord and a set of two toggles (link is for "up to 4mm"--make sure to get the "up to 3mm" size for better tension) and borrowed my friend's grommet kit. I added two grommets to each curtain panel: One in the upper aft corner and one near the upper forward corner. I added a loop of cord to the aft grommet and a smaller loop of cord to the forward grommet with the toggle. The forward loop needs to be just big enough to go around the sun visor; the toggle is for cinching this loop down to tension the curtain panel.
Here are some pics:
Panel with cord loops (right is forward, left is aft). The panels are the same, just mirror images of each other and so are interchangeable on either side of the truck.
Curtains are in!
It's important to cinch down the toggle to get the curtain taut, which means it's also important to get this grommet in the right place.
Which brings me to my one pending modification...
Because the panel hangs straight down, I'd like to create a tie-back to keep it closer to the side of the truck. This will increase privacy and keep it from flapping in my face if it's breezy. The tie-back will just be a strip of double-sided Velcro that will be sewn to the panel in just the right place and will be able to loop around the seatbelt.
Note: Because of the shape of the coat hooks, the loop of cord slips off unless you pop open the bolt cover. Then it stays no problem.
This didn't take too long and they turned out pretty well. I'm hoping the print will grow on me... If not, I'll give these away and start over in black!
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