About Perth Curtain Maker Annie

My Curtain making background

I fell in love with the art of sewing in my Mum’s showroom when I was young child (circa 5 years old). Mum was a professional dressmaker and ran a business in Tabriz (Iran), and throughout my childhood my playground was her workroom.

I was fascinated by her sewing and mesmerised at how she could turn a roll of fabric into beautiful gowns and bridal wear. My first proper job was to help her when I was 13 by adding the beads, pearls, gems and hand embroidery onto bridal gowns. This continued throughout my schooling and Mum’s business flourished whilst I continued to learn more and more about sewing.

Fast forward to the age of 25, I was married and a young mother newly in the UK. Whilst a trained dressmaker, the job I ended up in was at an elite curtain manufacturer in Southampton as a junior curtain maker. Here, I was introduced to the world of window coverings  and this period of my life has formed the foundation of everything I now know about curtain making. This includes how to calculate, cut fabrics, how to pattern match so  joins are seamless, how to line, and the various styles of curtains and headings. It also taught me about the importance of ensuring appropriate styles, curtain headings and curtain fabrics when designing and making curtains. This is especially important for heritage curtains in historic or heritage buildings.

This is me in my first few weeks at work:

It was a different skillset to dressmaking, and I loved it. I was trained in the classic European way of making curtains which involves great attention to detail and a unique styling.

After a few years, for family reasons, I left the boutique curtain manufacturer and started contracting my curtain making to a range of different curtain shops and interior designers, while working predominantly from home. I also made direct sales to clients, and the below swag and tails curtains was my very first curtain manufacturing job for my own client (my young daughter’s headmaster):

It was from working with the UK interior designers that my knowledge and skills grew markedly and I became a better curtain maker. In particular, I am forever grateful to one particular interior designer, Perle West Keen, who saw potential in me. Perle trusted in me and generously gave her time in educating me on various blind and curtain styles as well as colour combinations and the importance of soft furnishings (cushions, bedspreads etc) to the finished result.

In 2004 my family and I moved to Perth where I again started offering my curtain making services, from home, to various curtain and blinds stores. After three years, I became aware that Hay Interiors was being sold by its founders, Kevin and Patricia Hay, and I took a leap of faith and purchased it. By coincidence, when we first arrived in Australia we rented a small unit in Nedlands for two months, and when I first went to to Broadway Fair, I saw Patricia working in Hay Interiors making a curtain pelmet. I still remember how I dreamed on that particular day how much I would like to one day have my own curtain shop. At the time I had no idea that this dream would come to fruition three years later, and that it would be that very same curtain shop.

I am thankful and grateful to Patricia Hay for the guidance she provided me when she stayed on for 9 months. Patricia helped me learn about running a business; as whilst I knew how to sew and make curtains and blinds, running a business was new to me.

Over the last 17 years I have run Hay Interiors Curtains and Fabrics and adapted my skills to Australian preferences and styles, whilst embracing new fashions, brands, products (e.g. honeycomb cellular blinds) and technologies (e.g. motorisation and home automation systems).

I love my job. It involves creativity and problem solving whilst allowing me to meet new people and consult with them. To be able to meet a client, hear their vision, discuss different window treatments and ideas, and then create something magnificent, such as the curtains below, based on a small piece of fabric on a swatch is truly satisfying.