Red Velvet Curtains Guide | Red Velvet Curtains & Black Velvet Curtains

What can you do with Red Velvet Curtains?

The image of red velvet curtains might pop into your head whenever you think of old movie theaters or Broadway shows. They have long been since a staple in our minds of what elegance and style mean in those kinds of situations.

More recently now that people are putting up their own theaters in their homes, whether they use a large TV, or a projector, the need to bring some of those aspects of the movie theater to your own private residence are becoming more popular.

By buying some nice red velvet curtains and hanging them up in your theater room you can bring that elegance right into your very own home.

These days it just makes sense to spend a little extra money to setup a nice home theater instead of paying $100 to bring your family to the movies.

With the rising prices of the tickets and paying an arm and a leg for the snacks and beverages you will be throwing your money away.

How to clean Velvet Curtains

It’s important to remember that velvet is not an actual fabric like cotton, or polyester, but is technically a weave. Because it’s a weave it can actually be made up from different fabrics, along with different amounts and percentages of those fibers.

It depends on the exact kind of velvet you are trying to clean, on the steps you will need to use to clean it the best, and safest way. Because velvet is somewhat delicate you would typically want to bring it to a professional dry cleaner as they have the proper equipment and expertise to clean them, but if you find yourself in a situation where you need to clean the velvet curtains yourself then there are ways to do it.

Because crushed velvet curtains are set originally with heat and water, if you use wet cleaning it might remove the crushed effect and appearance so be careful.

It’s usually better to use wet cleaning outside of that, or to use some wet and dry cleaning mixed together. Like I originally said, because velvet is not actually a fiber but is a weave, these stesp always vary accordingly.

Tufted velvet has latex on the back and if you dry cleaning or any home solvent cleaners it might ruin it.

The basic steps on cleaning your velvet curtains to use use a mixture of a small amount (around a 1/2 teasppon) of dishwasher detergent mixed with water. Mix it up very well and then only used the suds themselves to clean with. Do not pour the mixture directly on the velvet curtains. Use very small amounts and use discretion on where you apply it. Do not get the velvet curtains completely soaked as this might ruin them.

You should always clean the velvet curtains towards the flow of the nap. Do not brush against it as this may cause permenant damage.

After you have cleaned your velvet curtains to your liking you should let it sit at least 24-48 hours before you try to hang them back up, or put them back where they were originally being used.

The trick, as it is with many situations where you are cleaning a material that is difficult is to use common sense and not be impatient. It’s much better and easier to spend a little extra time preparing and cleaning correctly than it is to go out and buy new curtains.

When to use Crushed Velvet Curtains?

What makes crushed velvet curtains so popular? There are a few things that make it stand out from other types of velvet curtains. They are typically more light weight than standard velvet fabric but do not give off the impression that they are flimsy or cheaper in any way.

They are completely full of texture and are perfect for not looking dull, but instead reflecting lights and ’shining’ much more than a standard heavier synthetic type of velvet.

Crushed Velvet Reflects Light

They are perfect for more regal type areas such as a ballet platform as opposed to a movie theatre. Ultimately they do look heavy but because they are actually light, they are perfect for drape or pipe panels or even for use at your home.

Because normal velvet will absorb light, they are frequently used in darker rooms like movie theaters or for black-out purposes. Crushed velvet is not recommended for that because of how it reflects lights and gives off a shining appeareance.

Some of the best places to purchase crushed velvet curtains & drapes is at SewWhatInc.com. They carry crushed velvet curtains in many colors such as Black, Red, Blue, Silver, Gold & Purple and come highly recommended.

Black-Out Velvet Curtains

The basic function of black-out curtains is to prevent any and all light from entering the room. They can also be reference by different names such as brightness diffuser, light screens and others.

Velvet black-out curtains are going to use an extra thick lining to add extra protection from light shining through. The thicker the lining and materail the darker your room will be.

Black-out curtains are used for different reasons such as people who have night jobs, need to sleep in without disruption, or watching movies or playing games.

The easiest way is typically to use curtains because they will usually be cheaper and more readily available than other types of black-out window treatments. The thicker the curtain material, the better effectiveness they will have.

That is what makes velvet curtains perfect for this because of the thick durable fabric that is used to create velvet. They also give a stylish feel and if you are using the curtains to black out the room for any sort of media purpose, such as movie watching, then the velvet curtains really fit the motif of a movie theater.

Black Out Velvet Curtains

Some people will combine multiple methods with the velvet curtains for blacking out their room. One reason it works well to combine different source is because althought black-out velvet curtains can do a great job, because of the nature of curtains they do not typically lie flat on the wall so normally there will be small openings through-out the blinds, but if you also combine it with shades or blinds for black out purposes then the thickness of the velvet will block out most of the light, where the blinds or shades will get the nooks and crannies that might have been missed by the velvet curtains.

One advantage to shades and blinds combined with curtains is that you can pull the curtains away when and if you do want light in the room on some occasions and then just flip the blinds or pull up the shades and the light will shine on in.

Velvet Curtain Sewing Tips

If you find yourself in need of sewing velvet curtains then you can follow these easy guide for a basic understanding. If you don’t have any experience with sewing already you should probably not try to complete these steps as they might be more for moderate to advanced skills. Here are some basic guidelines to follow when you start.

1. Because velvet is very hard to press, you should keep the design as basic as possible. One way of doing this is to lower the amount of seams in the curtains. The more advanced you are, and better pressing equipment you might have access to can change the range of seams you should attempt in your velvet curtains.

2. Following the direction of the nap is very crucial when dealing with velvet curtains. You should cut the velvet fabric into one layer because if you try multi-layered cuts it can slip out. If you do have a pattern that might be asking or even requiring multiple layers, simply cut the second layer into a backwards pattern and it will make it much easier to avoid any mistakes and/or slipping.

3. This next step can vary depending on the exact fiber you plan on creating the velvet curtains from but for a popular veltet fabric, polyser you would want to use a 70/10 needle. When putting on the backing of the velvet curtains you will most likely need a thinner needle, so remember that.

4. To prevent the material from crawling up while you sew it you should hand-baste the seams. Hand basting is simpler to remove than machine basting and it is much more easy to maintain control of an area of fabric when you hand-baste.

5. It should go without saying, but protecting your pile of velvet while you sew is absolutely crucial. If you apply too much pressure you can leave a lasting impression in the fabric so make sure it’s as light as pressure and you can possibly apply. It could be very frustrating to complete your curtains only to realize that you applied too much pressure and left impressions that take away from the beauty.

A History Of Velvet

Velvet has been around for a long time, and even today it is considered to be one of the most luxuriest fabrics you can own.

It’s look and feel are hard to match and that is why it has been so timeless throughout it’s history. It has been used through-out the middle ages by Kings and Knights, and today by the wealthiest and most elite of our culture.

It is not known for sure when the first record if Velvet was created or reported in history but most people agree that velvet weaving most likely started in the land Kashmir near the start of the 14th century.

Velvet is not a source of fabric but is actually the results of a type of woven fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed in a dense pile which gives it the velvet feel.

The actual fibers that can make up velvet range greatly from natural to synthetic fibers. The highest quality velvet will be from silk, but you can also use cotton, polyester, nylon and many others.

It is made from a special type of loom that will weave two seperate pieces of these fibers together.

Velvet is infamously tough to clean, but ever since the invention of dry-cleaning it isn’t as big of an undertaking as it once was.