Marti - Welcome to the forum! Have you been on other Garden Web sites besides sewing? I hope some sewing people will respond with advice for you. I have sewn several drapes, but I still consider myself a novice. There are some occasional posters on this site who have sewn drapery professionally. Some times, this site does not get much "traffic", though. If you are not getting many responses, please post this question on the Home Decor forum of Garden Web. Lots of sewers over there! There is so much math involved in drapery! I'm going to try and condense your above post to get a clear picture. Correct me if I've messed up. You want to cover 3 windows in MBR : 2 on the same wall: One is 100" wide, the other 150" wide. 1 on other wall : 168" wide. All will be 106" long. Fabric you have purchased (not counting lining or buckram): 47 yards of gold tone on tone stripe 30 yards burgundy ruched/smocked 17 yards gold floral/sage vine Your plan is to have 2 fabrics on the drapes : Top 24" burgundy, lower part gold stripe. You may use the gold floral/vine in accent pieces in the room. Below, I've put together some ideas in response to your questions: 1. I think there may be some risk in the drapes not hanging straight with the smocked fabric (at the top). However, if you put the smocked fabric at the bottom, that may help. I've not sewn with smocked fabric and have no clue if a stabilizer can be used. 2. What type of lining did you purchase? I assume that all of your fabrics can be lined. 3. I've never done goblet pleats, but have seen descriptions/video online. I think either of your fabrics could be made using goblet pleats, but the smocked (& the gold) would benefit by having buckram. 4. I only have one traverse rod in my home. It's great for opening & closing (one-way draw) my French Triple Pleat drape on the wide sliding glass door. If the drapes were goblet pleats, would they get messed up and not stack neatly when drawn? I never thought about that. P.S. Can you post pics of the fabric from a distance? How about a pic (from a distance) of the burgundy next to the gold stripe?...lay them flat on the floor, just one above the other. Laurie Here is a link that might be useful: Home Decor site

It's so good to hear that translucent header tapes are sturdy ShadyLady. Thank you. The functional drapes in my living room have a traditional pinch pleat header tape and have held up fine after 3+ years of use. Sounds like we are looking at similar window treatments Laurie... My guest bedroom's window has existing shades (pulled down halfway in the photo below), but since it's quite large (100" W x 108" H), I decided to add black out draperies to help manage the light, add texture to the room, and give myself a sewing project (ha!). So yes, they will be functional. Opening and closing with a baton hung inside the on the center edges of the 2 panels. Also, I added 30% additional width to my rod length to allow room for the stack back as I didn't want the opened curtains to block any light. But I read thinner fabrics and/or curtains without blackout lining need as little as 20% additional rod length for stackback. I linked below to an online tutorial I found loaded with photos that might offer additional help since she goes into great detail. My Fabric: medium weight Robert Allen Bella Porte fabric in midnight aka blue. http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=207642 Lining: Hanes OutBlack lining. This lining has been described as having a soft hand and being easy to work with (compared to other blackout linings). http://www.hanesindustries.com/blackouts.htm I wish my shipment would hurry, all this sewing talk has me excited to start! =) Here is a link that might be useful: Blog Tutorial: Sewing Pinch Pleat Lined Curtains

123bdesign: Am not sure what you mean by a day worker? If the work room has a day worker why would he/she even be motivated to surprise me or why would they even feel that I needed to be surprised???? Am totally confused as to why a work room would have a day worker and why they would be involved with the drapes. Just to recap, these creases were there from the moment they arrived at my home delivered by the installer who works for the decorator. When I saw the creases I asked the installer if they need to be steamed out and he said no absolutely not and that it would only make the billowing worse than it was. No, the decorator did not share any information with me as to characteristics of the fabric. Unfortunately I have learned after the fact that the decorator is probably not familiar with these things---mea culpa, poor choice of a decorator. Regarding the work room, the woman who owns the local work room did come to my house to measure and discuss the drapes but never mentioned anything about the fabric.. Then she turned around and outsourced it to a huge work room all the way across the country and yes, as you said, their job was just to make the drapes. I was never made aware that she was going to outsource the job. Another mea culpa, poor choice of a local work room by a decorator who was a poor choice. As I said above, this has been a very costly learning experience. shady lady2: I don't know what you mean about mounting the rod higher up. The creases would still be there and still very obvious because the fabric billows and so what might be folded to the back with a different fabric does not occur here. With the billowing there are very few back folds----so the creases are all pushed out to be visible. Hope I am explaining myself. I have given up with this job and my only recourse is to post an honest review of the decorator and work room on the local angie's list and move on.

The two in the middle are the ones you need (the ones Carol showed). They go in the seams thru the lining. The top of the drapery pin (what they're called) would be about 1/4" to 1/2" down from the top. You'll need one at the leading edge, about 1/2" from the edge. The other end is the return edge which goes to the wall. I put a tenter hook in the wall and sew a small ring on the edge to hang onto the hook. The hooks from the drapery pins go into the small rings that are on the bottom of drapery rings that hang on a rod. The drapery pins can be adjusted if necessary.