Beat the Heat

As you probably know we are in a heatwave in the UK and houses here are built for the cold. With narrow eaves and well insulated walls, houses get unbearably hot in normal UK summers and now, it's set to get even hotter. 

Yesterday I was sewing blinds to hang outside our windows, as our house gets too hot. If you would like to sew some blinds, you can do what I did. I bought some blackout fabric (white in the photo) and some black polyester fabric at A&M Textiles (https://amtextiles.co.uk) in High Wycombe. The fabric is easy to sew and the blinds do exactly what I need them to.

I measured my windows and added a couple of centimetres, to make sure the glass area would be completely covered.  I drew the lines to sew along onto the plastic (wrong, dull side) of the blackout fabric with a pencil, to make sure I could sew straight. It definately goes quicker if you have a line to follow.

I started by clipping the black fabric and blockout fabric together, right sides together. I tucked lengths of elastic - precut and placed so that the blind can be held onto the opening portion of the window. Once the elastic was pinned in place, I sewed almost all the way round - leaving an opening along one short side, so I could turn it out. I then checked the elastic was firmly stitched in place before I clipped the seams and used a pin to pull the seam tight, and then I sewed the second seam 10mm from the edge and also closed the open edge left by the previous seam.

The smaller short elastic is to hold the corners of the blind tight to the window.

The layout below is for a top opening vent with a window pane below it. The elastic stretches over the corners of the windows to hold it in place. The smaller piece sewn into the corner, stops the top corners of the blinds from flopping down and letting the sun in at the corners. This allows the window to be opened while the blind provides shade.

Don't forget to trim the corners before turning it to the right side - also make sure to leave enough elastic, so that the second seam also holds the elastic firmly.

My finished blinds:

As you can see, I have sewed my blinds in batches as I tried various different things. I started with the roof windows, as the loft gets extremely hot when I want to sew. I then sewed blinds for the bathroom, which also gets very hot and the blinds made such a difference, I decided to make blinds for all the upstairs windows. I just need to be careful when taking them down, to keep hold of the elastic, so the blind doesn't fall down.

If you are still really battling with the heat, putting your feet in cold or even cool water can help you to regulate your body temperature. You can also use a wet facecloth or towel draped on you and sit near a fan.

I am going on a short break with the family soon and I hope to sew more when I get back - hopefully the loft will also be a lot cooler then and I will be able to sew in comfort - not a sauna.

Take care.

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