Before you take a seat at your sewing bench, make sure you've got the following items to hand:

  • Main fabric (we used Denim Stripe, col Peony, £18.50 a metre, Ian Mankin)
  • Matching thread
  • 40mm-diameter clip-together eyelets (try Nylon Metallic Eyelets in Gunmetal, 87p each, Curtain Genius
  • Telescopic curtain rod that doesn’t require fitting (try the 12mm Baroness Telescopic Café Rod, from £4.50 for a 55cm to 85cm rod, Tracks & Poles & Things
  • Tailor’s chalk