Blockout Curtain Fabrics

DIY Your Curtains With Blockout Curtain Fabrics in Every Style and Colour

There's nothing worse than the 5am summer sun through bedroom windows, street light bleeding in at night or a glare washing out a TV screen in the afternoon. Blockout curtain fabric is the DIY fix that gives you full control over your curtains, allowing you to make curtains that fit your windows exactly and in the colours of your preference. At Spotlight, you can shop a range of blockout curtain fabric by the metre in a wide range of colours, textures and finishes.

What is a Blockout Curtain Fabric?

Also known as blackout curtain fabric, blockout curtain fabric is a dense, coated or tightly woven fabric engineered to stop light passing through the material itself. These fabrics offer a range of benefits, including light control, day and night privacy and thermal insulation - helping to keep your home cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Blockout curtain fabrics also have excellent noise absorption properties and UV protection for furniture and flooring. These fabrics are great for making curtains for bedrooms, living rooms, nurseries, media rooms and home offices.

Find the Perfect Blockout Fabric For Your Space

You'll often come across two main types of blockout curtain fabric, with one being thermal weave. Also known as triple weave, with this type of blockout curtain fabric, black yarn is woven into the fabric core with no foam backing required, resulting in a softer, natural drape. You also may come across coated or thermal layered blockout curtain fabric. With this type of fabric, a foam or acrylic backing is applied to the reverse side, resulting in a more structured hang and maximum light block.

Thermal weave is easier to handle and usually machine washable, whereas coated types require hand washing or dry cleaning and need fabric clips rather than pins. Thermal weave falls softly and suits more relaxed styles, while coated fabric has a more tailored, structured hang. Ultimately it comes down to the amount of light blocking you're after and the overall look you want to achieve with your curtains.

What Heading Style Works With Blockout Curtain Fabric?

Blockout curtain fabrics are compatible with a range of different curtain headers, including S-Fold with a modern, flowing wave, pencil pleat for a classic fullness that suits structured blockout fabrics, eyelet for curtains that are casual and easier to hang while suiting lighter blockout weights and pinch pleat curtains for a formal, tailored look. Coated and stiffer blockout fabrics suit more structured headings such as pencil pleat or pinch pleat, whereas thermal weave suits S-Fold curtains beautifully due to its softer drape.

Make a Statement With Colour, Texture, and Style

Explore our range of blockout curtain fabrics with a variety of colours, textures, patterns and finish options to choose from. From neutral tones that bring a minimalist touch to your window furnishings to rich colours that complement maximalist styles of decorating, our range of blockout curtain fabrics offers styles to suit any interior decor colour scheme. Consider matching your fabric to existing curtains, rugs, cushions and bedding to establish cohesion in your space.

How Much Blockout Curtain Fabric Do You Need?

To choose the correct amount of fabric required for your homemade blockout curtains, you need to consider the width and height of your windows, as well as how much gathering (fullness) you intend to feature in the finished design. Measure the window width and multiply by the fullness factor (1.5x for a flatter look, 2x to 2.5x for a fuller curtain), then add the drop measurement plus hem allowance (typically 20-30cm for top and bottom hems combined).

For larger windows, joining fabric widths may be needed and that pattern or texture repeats should be accounted for in the total metreage. If you're using Cut, Hem and Hang fabric, this fabric comes in extra-wide widths and often covers a standard window in a single width, which reduces the calculation significantly. Spotlight also has a handy free curtain fabric calculation project which you can use to work out the amount of curtain fabric needed for any size window and fabric width.

Sew Your Own Blockout Curtain Without the Fuss

Sewing your own blockout curtains with Spotlight's blockout curtain fabric is made easy with a few helpful tips and tricks:

• Pre-washing: Thermal weave types can be pre-washed on a cool gentle cycle, coated types should not be machine-washed at any stage - check the fabric care label.
• Cutting: Use sharp fabric scissors or a rotary cutter for clean, straight edges - especially important for coated fabrics which drag or fray unevenly with blunt blades.
• Needle: Use a size 14-16 sewing machine needle for heavier blockout fabrics.
• Pinning: Avoid pins on coated fabric as they leave visible holes - use fabric clips or pattern weights instead.
• Ironing: Press on the fabric (front) side only, never on the coated backing - use a low to medium heat setting.
• Hemming: Keep hem allowances on coated fabrics as short as practical (2-3cm) for a neater finish.

Spotlight stocks all the notions you need, including thread, needles, fabric scissors, heading tape, eyelet kits and fabric clips to help you make your own curtains with ease.

Grab Them at Australia's Trusted Destination for Curtain Fabrics and More

With our blockout curtain fabric sold by the metre, you have total control over sizing with no standard size constraints. Our Cut, Hem and Hang curtain fabrics blockout range even offers pre-finished fabric with built-in heading tape or eyelets for minimal sewing. We also have blockout curtain linings, which you can pair with uncoated curtain fabrics to create your own blockout curtains. As a one-stop shop for all your DIY curtain needs, you can find all the sewing curtain accessories you need to make your own window furnishings, including fabric, heading tape, eyelet kits, sewing thread, needles, scissors, curtain rods, curtain tracks, curtain hooks, rings, tiebacks, and sewing machines all in one place. If instead you're after a ready-made option, we also offer a range of ready-made blockout curtains for a convenient update to your window furnishings.

Enjoy More Value for Every Metre

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Make Your Own Curtains for Less With Bargains Galore on Blockout Curtain Fabrics

Discover a huge range of curtain fabrics at Spotlight for all your DIY curtain creations! Explore our selection of curtain fabrics and discover a range of blockout curtain fabrics, sheer curtain fabrics and thermal curtain fabrics as well as all the sewing supplies and curtain hardware for all your window covering needs. Make sure you check out our free curtain projects online for tips, tricks and inspiration and our How to Hang Curtains buying guide for more information on installing your curtains. We have everything you need to DIY your curtains at a low price. Shop our full curtains range, including both curtain fabrics and ready-made curtains online or in-store today and reinvent the windows in your home!