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Turning Tab Top curtains into rod pocket or back tab

14 years ago

Any experience / advice appreciated.

I found some linen-look Ikea tab top curtains at a great price. Since I have 2 bays in my dining room, and am looking to update my look w/o spending a lot of money, I bought them.

However,.... I am not a big fan of tab tops. Has anyone transformed them into back tab curtains? Any advice? Length is not a concern, I have lots of extra length to work with.

TIA

Parsuzi

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Comments (7)

My3dogs ME zone 5A
14 years ago
I just made back tab panels this weekend for my living room. I'd just open the top seam that holds the tabs, remove the tabs, and stitch the seam closed again, with a straight stitch on the right side of the fabric near the top edge.

At that point, pick up where the instructions in the link below tell how to attach the tabs to the top of the back.

Here is a link that might be useful: Instructions to make back tab panels
DLM2000-GW
14 years ago
I took tab top curtains and turned them into back tab easily. All I did was flip the tabs down and stitch them to the back of the curtain. The stitch line is almost on top of the header seam that was there anyway - totally invisible and they work perfectly making to beautiful soft folds.
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Tabs aren't so great for curtains that must be opened and closed regularly IME - they tend not to slide on the rod very well. If you use a simple buttonhole in the top hem you can slip decorative curtain rings (the kind you'd use for normal curtains, not shower curtains) through both the pretty curtain and the liner and use a decorative shower curtain rod. Use a good interfacing in the top hem to reinforce the buttonholes. That is less visually obtrusive than grommets. You can get double rods for shower curtains, the inner one for the liner is a little lower than the front one so the liner doesn't show, but they tend not to be that attractive. Same goes for the double shower curtain hooks, they're very functional but not very decorative. Croscill makes some gorgeous decorative shower curtain rods that aren't too horribly expensive. IMO fabric shower curtain liners are so much nicer than vinyl, and they don't stink. I've used heavy steel washers for weighting shower curtains before and they worked really well. Sew little pockets, open at the top, every 6" or so in the hem of the shower curtain. Drop the washers in. If you want to you can take a hand stitch in the top of the pocket to hold the washer in place, you can do that, but I've never had a problem with them falling out. When you want to wash or dry-clean the shower curtain, just take the washers out.
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Hi, Dana! Like I said before, I'm glad we're working on our projects together, however long it takes to get to completion! What you saw in the picture is just part of one rod. We still haven't completely installed either rod. Both rods still need the end brackets, but I was waiting to get the rings. I want one ring on the 'outside' of the bracket and the rest of the rings on the 'inside'. I think I have it figured out. Now it's just finding the time for DH and I to get to it. So, to answer your questions. So far, I'm very satisfied with the rods. Since I need to alter my panels (they are 96"), we went ahead and placed the rods at the height we want (8" above the window) and I will alter the panels to work with that height. I plan to hang the rings on the rod and then measure from the bottom of the ring to the floor to get my overall length of each panel. Yesterday, I test hung one panel just to get an idea of the look. I used the clips and the look was OK, but I think I'll like it better to eliminate the clips, if I can. I also had the entire length of the panel, so there was a lot of puddling of the drapes on the floor and again, I was kinda surprised to NOT hate the look. I think, tho, that I will have them just barely touching the floor. Hey, if I just use the clips and have the drapes puddle on the floor, I could be done! HA! I understand your frustration in determining the placement of the rod and the length of the panels. I recently made some panels for our bedroom and did just what you described. I held the rod with the panel on it to determine the right height and it kinda worked. They ended up about an inch too long and some day I hope to change that, but for now, at least they're up. So, to make a long answer even longer, I think if you measure the entire panel and then hang the rod and rings so that the height from the bottom of the ring to the floor is the same as your panel, you should be at the right height. You may want to add about a 1/2" to the rod height, so that the panels are just a little above the floor. Does any of this make sense? Good luck with your project. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures when it's completed. I'm also anxious to share pictures of my project, too, but at the rate we're working, who knows when that will be! Are you planning to use the Universal Tempo Tape?
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Your drapes are thin so but I don't see why you can't hook some of the lightweight drapery pins into the tabs and hang from those. With 9" spacing you'll just have larger folds when the drapes are open. BTW, be sure to use the lightweight vs the heavy pins for your fabric. Since the tabs on your drapery headers are 'open' vs sewn vertically to the rod pocket they may tend to pull up unevenly when hung. I suggest you either sew, hand tack, or use fabric glue to secure the tabs to the rod pocket. If this doesn't make sense, let me know. I purchased my traverse rods from overstock and they have the faux rings already on the rods. I recently converted some grommet drapes using the pins and hanging on a traverse rod.......turned out nice.
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ttodd
14 years ago
I think I have the same curtains that you are talking about, or at least similar. Mine are Bomull. I don't like tab tops either and this was my quick fix: Since my side panels are purely for decorative purposes I don't have to close them. I pulled the tabs all side by side, neat and flat, on each end of the rod and from the back pulled the excess material straight back. They almost look box pleated now and you don't really notice the tabs since there is no space between them on the rod.
justgotabme
14 years ago
Deb is right. A very easy fix. My only concern would be if they became too short so make sure to take that into account.
haley_comet
14 years ago
I think that is an excellent plan - I too dislike tab top's - I find they often look disheveled.
pammyfay
14 years ago
The good thing about Ikea's curtains are that they come in such long lengths! I would hate to do a conversion like this and then look at the bottoms and see they are like pants that are just-that-bit-short that you see your socks! (What's the slang for that? 'high-waters'?)

Oh--one thing: Do a few flip-backs on the tabs, then stand back and make sure they look OK to you, because some of Ikea's curtains' weaves can be a bit skimpy, and you might not like the shadow behind the flipped-back tabs.
jlcjlr
14 years ago
I modified some Pier 1 curtains that were backtab. I inserted crinoline in the top pocket to stiffen it a bit, then added curtain weights on each corner. Finally, I measured the correct width for each panel when closed and divided by the number of tabs. I stitched binding tape across the back at each tab. The end result is the fabric stays properly spaced when you pull the panel closed. I've never posted pictures but I will try. They look like casual un-pleated panels with tidy, big s-curves.

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