With the basic bones of the bedroom and bathroom completed, it was time for me to work on the interior. The previous owners of our Airstream had completely replicated the original drapes in white muslin–I couldn’t believe the amount of work they had put into them! And a cursory look at the drapes themselves revealed that I would have to be really careful when removing them for washing because they were different sizes, with different ways of attaching them to the walls. So I took copious notes while I removed them! I have no idea what Airstream is using these days for their drapes, but for 1970’s trailers, it boils down to basically two sizes of drapes: 24″ and 36.” Each drape has 6-8 “carriers” on the top and bottom edges, and there are two types: “T” carriers and “G” carriers, named for the way they are shaped. And you absolutely have to match the carrier to the track–they’re not interchangeable.
The drapes really needed to be washed, so I started with that. We had decided to re-cover the blue vinyl couch/bed with something a little more genteel, and had chosen some great fabric that matched the cottage/beach vibe we had going in the front of the trailer. I had thought I would dye the drapes a solid color that went with one of the stripes in our couch fabric. Unfortunately, they actually disintegrated in the washing machine–they were that old and fragile! I suppose decades of sitting in the sun didn’t help either. In any event, I was faced with the unappealing prospect of re-creating all the drapes. And that is exactly what I did. In the end, it turned out that some of our windows no longer had tracks so we had to use a different method for those windows. And this project actually turned out not to be as difficult as I had thought it would be.
As part of removing and cataloging the original drapes, I had measured them and written down where on the trailer each one went. So I realized that I basically just had to sew rectangular panels, sew in the proper carriers, and then find a way to gather them. I found something at the fabric store that I don’t even know what it’s called, but it’s basically a 3″-wide bias tape with several strings pre-basted all the way through. You basically sew the tape into your drapes, then pull the strings to gather. And voila! Drapes!
And although I say these were easy, what I actually mean is that they were not as hard as I had feared and they are definitely do-able by a human with a sewing machine who doesn’t really know what they’re doing or what all of their materials are called. But I basically sewed the bare minimum number of drapes needed to minimally cover the windows and the jury’s still out on whether or not I will sew the couple of extra drapes that would provide really good coverage. They sure do look great with the couch, though!
My next task was covering the windows that didn’t have the original tracks. We figured out early on that we could just use a curtain rod for this, so I set out to sew some basic lined curtains. Again with the rectangles! It seemed simple enough to just sew a larger rectangle of our awesome Route 66 fabric around a smaller muslin rectangle. I’m really glad I sewed the top and bottom the same way, though. I left a channel in the top seam so that we could pass the curtain rod through. But after we got them installed in the windows, I wasn’t too happy with the way they just hung down. Because an Airstream’s walls are curved, a curtain that fits against the wall at the top will be about 6″ away from the wall at the bottom, which lets in a lot of light, even with the black-out shades we installed. So Rob installed another curtain rod below the window (upside down so the tension from the top rod will keep it from popping off its wall bracket), then passed the lower curtain rod through the bottom hem of the curtain.
For a while–maybe a season, maybe a year–I thought it would be really great to cover the walls in the bedroom area of the trailer with vintage road maps. I knew it would be a lot of work, but I was sure it would look super-cool when I was done. So I started collecting old road maps on eBay. I wanted to use maps from 1975 or thereabouts, to be consistent with the age of the trailer, and I found some great maps: lots of states, the entire US, and even a map of Nova Scotia, where my family and I went tent-camping in the summer of 1975! I read about ways to affix them to our walls with Mod Podge. And I’m sure that this would be a great look someplace! Unfortunately, over time I began to doubt that this would actually work in the Airstream, as I discovered that although the trailer doesn’t leak, the walls can feel damp when it’s humid outside due to condensation. And the last thing I wanted was a mess of bubbled, peeling, old maps all over our walls. So now I just have a boatload of old maps. Maybe I’ll sell them on eBay. Just not that one from Nova Scotia! In the end, I framed a map of the city of Chicago in 1975 and hung it in the living room. You know, in case we get homesick.
Finally, we needed some throw-pillows. For the last 30 years, I’ve collected patches from every trip I’ve gone on, every place I’ve visited. And with all the money I’ve saved by not buying expensive souvenirs, I could afford to buy an Airstream! Just kidding. I used to sew my patches on a big backpack that I also used for camping. But in recent years, I had just too many patches! So I decided to create some patch-pillows for the Airstream from all the places I’ve visited–many of which Rob and I have visited together. I found an easy video on the internet that showed how to make a pillow with a built-in zipper, and I was off!
Eventually I got a little carried away with the pillows and we now have body pillows, throw pillows for the bed, some throw pillows for the couch, and one more set of throw pillows for the couch. It was just so much easier than sewing the drapes! I also sewed a few other things: a mesh cover for the storage portal in the bathroom that clips onto the vanity below the sink with tiny carabiners, and mesh covers for the open storage shelves in the photo above whose doors no longer close. I’m sure photos of those will appear over time. But all in all, these projects were super fun, moderately challenging, and contributed some valuable ambience as we began to spend weekends in the Airstream!