Curtains or sails?

M has two skylights in her room that let in way to much light at 5:30 in the morning so she requested that I make some curtains to cover them and she was willing to have this project jump to the head of the list of projects I have to do for her. So, with my MIL (who has made LOTS of window treatments) in town we decided to work on it one afternoon. My FIL was nice enough to hang the rods for us and between the three of us it took 4-5 hours for the whole project.

I decided the easiest thing would be to hang two long parallel rods above and below both windows and then hang them on the rods using the little white rings you use for draperies. (Don't know what they're called.) The rings slide very nicely on the rod. When she wants to open them she can just stand on her bed and pull them to the center. They are made with outdoor canvas which was doubled so they pretty much hold their shape as they are moved. These were moved to the middle once and then moved back once without straightening so you can see how nicely they hang either way. When opened they just fill the middle space perfectly and look great that way too.

We intended to make them so they were fairly flush to the rods but were tired by the end and forgot which number to work from when sewing on the rings. I actually like them this way. They kind of look like sails. They also give the room a very warm feeling when the light comes in. I told M that if she wants them less drapey we can take them down and I will teach her how to sew the rings on and we can move them. She just didn't see the humor in that. LOL.




From the side you can see the light coming in the window.



Straight on you don't even see the light out the sides. The window openings are recessed quite a ways from the roof so the light doesn't spread much .