I can help with this, having just finished up my 67th one.....obviously
not all for myself.
You need several layers of something. The best I've found yet (lucky
me, have used other folks' money to make up what they want, but I get to
see/assess the results of all.) is to actually fork over the $$ for a
product called Warm Window, then make up with it a window quilt that can
somehow be fastened right down the the wall or window frame. After
using the wrong materials the most common mistake I see is that folks
try to hang them from a curtain rod, then the air just goes right up the
backside (window side) of them like air in a chimney---not what you want.
The first ones I made for myself with Warm Window are now over 20 years
old and have been washed quite a number of times. The product itself is
a batting swedged to a layer of mylar, and backed with a UV resistant
layer for the window side. Make your shade, and they recommend
magnetized rubber strips to hold the shade against the window frame or
wall, but I use Velcro, since I'm in it for blood :-) . I prefer the
Roman shade type usually and I fasten the top right to a mounting board
(which can have a cornice added over the top front or not, as one
wishes), then I Velcro the sides. The side pieces of my window frame I
have hinged at the window edge, so when shade is up they look like
regular window trim. When I put the shade down, I turn the side trim
piece toward window, exposing a strip of Velcro that's mounted to the
wall (longleg staples). The shade I then stick right to that Velcro
along the sides. The bottom I have weighted and it rests right on the
sill on some of them, others I have Velcro at the base of the window
trim (bottom piece) and a corresponding Velcro strip on the curtain.
Net result you are aiming for is to have the thing tight against the
wall/window frame all the way around. Made this way, they save me 20º
overnight in the winter, hold summer heat back equally well. Using
these judiciously, we got along 2 winters/summers on the VA coast
without either heating or air conditioning, but were not always
comfortable. Here I rarely use them in the summer, but they're up now
for the winter, you can believe! So far I haven't had to make a fire,
but I can see it coming.......
Some of mine are on big, big windows where the sun moves across the
window; those shades are made in 3 vertical strips each, and each 'join'
is Velcro-ed along the sides, so I can have 1,2, or all 3 strips down
depending on where the sun is hitting the window. On those each section
has separate pullcords, kind of a PITA to rig but works pretty well.
The other windows are all smaller and those are one panel traditional
Roman shade types. All of the ones I've done for myself recently have a
pieced or appliquéd top (front) piece, but they are nice, too, with an
old quilt as the top (all my old quilts burned, so that's out for now,
for me.) Most of the ones I do for pay have a light upholstery fabric
for the top. They are OK and faster, therefore cheaper, but look too
'magazine-y' for me.....
Warm Window has pretty good instructions on their site, will add a
link. I hate the price of the stuff but usually can get it half off at
JoAnn's, it's the only thing I ever buy there anymore. I have scrounged
leftovers from various jobs and occasionally get enough for a whole
shade that way, but try hard to buy for each job as I go---bulky to store.
I have tried to make many imitations of the Warm Window product and have
never come close to getting what they have. Either my rigs have not
been anywhere near as efficient or they didn't hold up to
use/washing/moving materials about. At one point I was fairly
determined I was never going to buy more of the stuff, but I have
crumpled. When I make them for other people, I don't offer an option,
because they are a PITA to make and no way I'm gonna spend all that time
and effort, even for pay, for a substandard result. If they don't want
to pay the price, I just tell them to hang a wool blanket tight to the
wall, as it's the next best thing I've found.
http://www.warmcompany.com/wwpage.html is the link for WW instructions,
near the bottom of the page. After 15 years or so of lousy
instructions, they finally got a set that's accurate and easy to
follow. It is, or was, a PDF and takes a while to d/l if you have
dialup but worth it to save time/materials and get the job done with
least bit of hassle.
SJ, in VERY windy, rainy, Maine. Friends are here in an RV and I got
them to move it, afraid tree would get 'em. We just did this a couple
of days ago, thought that was our turn.....
[Homestead] making Window Quilts, long,
SJC, 10/28/2008