OMG. Doing the pleats themselves without tape is like making your own pie crust. Why....? You can buy the tape at Hancock fabrics or Joanne's. They usually have sewing notions like these where other stores do not. 1st and foremost: has your lady made pleat curtains before? There's a lot more involved than just dry running it with safety pins. Nice curtains will depend upon just how much effort put into them, and how much you tell yourself it'll be just "fine" or are willing to settle. Yes, she (or you) can unhem one side of each and attach them. Make certain you're doing the correct right and left sides to be joined. The hem at the bottom doesn't need to be completely unhemmed, just opened to join the panels. I would completely open the rod pockets, though, because you're getting rid of them anyway. You don't need the bulk in your pleats and it gives you the opportunity to make the length you want. Insist on pattern matching. Sometimes, if you don't say it out loud, it doesn't happen. When you buy the panels, lay them out on the floor and make certain they match up before you unhem then. I'm thinking plaids, stripes, or anything with a repeat. Like wall paper. Take the width of your window and double it, and that's how much fabric you'll need to have them hang nicely when closed. When your drapes are open, if you have them off the window (or beside it) so the window is completely exposed, you must add those inches into the width of your window. Decide how high your rods are going to be, taking into consideration the pleat hooks (wish you were close; I have 1000s of them) hang along a rod. Do you want them to graze the floor or puddle? You'll need those measurements. A professional seamstress and someone who makes curtains will insist on measuring themselves, just like a window, cabinet, door, granite, etc., installer. Now, in my opinion, if you don't line these drapes they're not necessarily going to fall well. The pleats probably won't be very defined. Plus, lined, the weight is more luxurious and look like a far better quality. It also helps prevent dry rot on your decorative fabric. Dry rot happens on natural fabrics extremely quickly, synthetics not so fast. The sun is evil. Remember. When you don't sew, build, wallpaper, paint, landscape, etc., the words "merely" and "just" are words that simply demonstrate that you probably don't have any idea what is actually involved. Conversely, before you finalize your payments, as with any other contractor, have them installed and insist that they hang properly, that the patterns match or hang horizontally or vertically straight, that they close properly and any pattern continues to line up, that they're actually wide enough, that you have matching ties (if you want them -- another panel) that the grain is proper on a lining, that the lining hangs smoothly behind the curtains, attached in the side seams, but free along the hem. that you have curtain weights in the hem, that the top stitching is what you'd like it to be (thread color?) that the lining and top fabric are comlimentary. Cotton shrinks, polyester doesn't. Prewashed? I hope this helps a little. I'm sure you've already looked online at all the "Make your own drapes" articles. There's a lot more that goes into nice curtains than one might think. Even in the articles, "just" isn't always that easy. Lowe's has some pretty stuff! :) Good luck.

I think my best bet might be to install the rods and then give the two colors (or three, if I take a look at the green at BBB and think it might also be a possibility) a try. Right now, I'm still kind of torn between the SAND and the IVORY. I know the SAND blends in, but that might be what I want. OTOH, it may blend in too much and the IVORY might be better. Perhaps this is why I've put off dressing these windows for so long!!

I like to follow the rule of thirds. It is aesthetically pleasing. However, in this situation, I'm trying to figure out if the 1/3 point is the rod itself or the distance from the top of the panel to the ceiling. The difference is not that great, but could, I suppose, throw things off. Let me see if I can explain what I'm talking about. The distance between the top of the window casing and the ceiling is 14". One third of that is 4.66". The distance from the floor to the top of the window casing is 80". If I use the 84" panels and allow for about 1/2" clearance at the bottom, the top of the panel would be about 4 1/2" from the ceiling. BUT, if I want the rod to be 4 1/2" from the ceiling, then I need to purchase the 95" panels and shorten them and the top of the panel ends up about 6 1/2" from the ceiling! Does this make any sense? WWYD??? Now, let me show you what I think I'm going to use for the rod. Does it blend in with the wall enough? And which of these two colors do you think I should use? The one draped over the sofa is SAND and the other that I didn't bother to unfold from the way it was packaged (sorry about that) is IVORY. If you'd like to see the IVORY opened up, I can do that. SO MANY DECISIONS! I don't know why my pictures are larger than usual. I swear I resized them the same as all the others. Sorry.

Different books/instructors will have different methods of construction, so it's more a matter of preference, than right or wrong. I prefer a double 4" header (or possibly a double 3"). I'd add buckram in the fold if you don't want any droop between the clips.