Fabric recommendations requested

Hi everyone,

I need your expert advice.

A few years ago, my husband bought a used, 25-year-old, small motorboat. He’s a passionate angler and always goes fishing on it with his fishing buddy. It has a small cabin with windows all around, so you can spend the night in it.

After he bought it, I sewed some curtains with nautical motifs for it. I’d talked him into choosing that fabric—he didn’t really want it at first. And now—three years later—he still doesn’t like the fabric. He’s now set on having solid-color, dark red curtains. They need to be opaque from the outside, but they shouldn’t completely block out the light inside; they should let some light through.

Since the boat is in the water from spring through fall and humidity naturally builds up inside the boat as well, the curtains need to be made of a fabric that won’t get musty or moldy.

Can you help me with this and perhaps recommend a fabric?

Thank you so much for your support.

Best regards, Ina

P.S. Here’s a picture so you can picture the little boat. The colorful curtains are here with me now, waiting to be replaced with red ones.

Ina, I sent you an email about the fabrics

Best regards, Inge

Just a quick update on my search for fabric.
So, the internet and various stores are full of fabrics in different qualities. But that’s all theory. It’s simply impossible to tell whether the fabrics on offer are suitable for the intended purpose (opaque from the outside, translucent from the inside, mold-resistant).

My husband and I are heading to a home improvement store with an attached home furnishings section next week. They also carry fabrics there, and you can have curtains sewn. We’ll take a look and feel the fabrics to see if we can find the right one. Unless they’re standard fabrics like cotton or cotton jersey, it’s difficult to buy fabrics online. You can’t actually touch them or check their properties. Once they’ve been cut and shipped, you usually can’t return them either. So, if possible, always buy specialty fabrics in person. If necessary, you’ll just have to drive a little farther to find a store.

Best regards, Ina

Ina, I once sewed curtains for my sister out of shower curtains—I just cut them down to size.
Her bathroom window is above the bathtub, and the curtain she absolutely wanted there wore out in no time and soon had mildew stains.
The shower curtain worked out pretty well—whether that’s something for you, I have no idea.
Since the material is pretty stiff, I sewed a heavy lead tape into the bottom—that way, it hung really nicely.

Dear Claudia, that was a clever idea, and it was well executed with the lead tape. I’ll keep it in mind. Thank you so much!

Best regards, Ina