best way to add length to draperies?
Comments (17)
maddielee
3 years agoRelated Discussions
The 'best' drapery are handmade?
Comments (27)Andrea, I looked online for instructions to make hidden tab (back tab) panels and found the site I have linked below. My fabric was $2.00 a yard from eBay, and I bought it from a seller who sells leftovers from a company that makes bedding, comforters, etc. It was 110" wide, including the selvages. The window that you see above is 39" wide, with the rod mounted a bit outside on each end. My fabric was so heavy that there was no need to line these. I cut off the selvages on each side, and split the width down the center. I did double one inch side hems, so each side took up 2". My finished panels are 51" wide. I put 7 tabs across that width, just over 7" (on center) apart. The outside tab on each end is between the bracket and the final, so if I choose to draw them closed, the panel will stay in place, being held by the bracket. I'd typically hand hem to hide stitches, but this fabric was so heavy and patterned that I used my machine to blind stitch them. That can be a tad tricky for a person who doesn't sew a lot, so I'd hand hem if you are more comfortable. Mine have double 4" hems on the bottom. The valance that I made for the bay window is 170" wide for a 64" wide window. I can't use panels there as the dogs like to jump up in that window and check our the back yard. Here is a link that might be useful: back tab panel instructions....See MoreCorner windows: Best way to exclude light?
Comments (6)Some GREAT ideas here! I wish I could post a pic of the corner windows but I won't be getting the keys to that house until next week. I'll do it then though. yayagal, my problem is that (if I recall from the walkthrough the other day) there is almost zero recess in which to mount anything inside the window frame. Less than an inch, for sure. The windows are probably from the 1970s (?) I would guess. they are not the original wood windows from the early 60s but that's about all I know about them. I am the same: Can't stand even a speck of light! Can't fall asleep if there's any noise either. Also when I get one of my "killer" headaches I need to be in a room where there's as little light as possible because at those times light is literally painful. A lambrequin!! You know, I was mentally trying to figure out how to create some sort of framed border around an outside-mount room darkening shade but had no idea what it was called. :-) But then there is the issue of how to do that when you have a pair of windows that literally meet in the corner of the room. The pic next week will explain it better than I can, I'm sure. graywings, thanks so much for the info on Comfortex! I wonder if they are available through Hunter-Douglas dealers as well. I will ask for sure. But it looks as though some kind of framing is needed for those side light blockers and therein lies the problem with these particular windows....See MoreShort on fabric length for drapery panels. Best solution?
Comments (7)Is there any law that says you can't have a 2" hem on the bottom and use a light interfacing in the hem or add a 2" band at the bottom. Unless you are using a sheer fabric, I don't think you would really need a double 4" hem. Another option would to do a contrasting valance or order more fabric and use that for the valances. If this is a vacation home in a gated community, you might want to check what their rules are about window treatments and solid white showing to the street (condo associations will have rules like that, know mine does). Are you going to line these panels which would give extra drape to the whole look....See MoreNeed help! Is there any way to add seating to my kitchen island?
Comments (22)FYI...if you want room for legs/knees to fit comfortably, the minimum recommendation is 15" of clear leg/knee space for counter-height seating -- and that's for short to average folks. We have 15" and I wish we had more, but we're a relatively tall family, so more would have been better. I'm the shortest and even my knees tough the backs of the cabinets on our peninsula when I sit close enough to eat something. (If not eating, I can push myself farther out into the aisle for more comfort -- but not if I'm eating anything b/c I would drip food on me for certain!) 12" is only good for "perching" for short amounts of time. It would not be comfortable for any length of time -- for all heights (except very short people or very young children). Regardless, you don't have room for 15" or 12". You should have 48" to 54" behind seats (48" if no counters/cabinets, 54" if counters/cabinets). Your work aisles are already too shallow (42" is minimum recommended for a one-person Kitchen and 48" or more for 2 or more people working in the Kitchen). Note that aisles are measured to/from the items sticking out into them the farthest -- appliance handles, counter overhangs, etc. The back panel of your island is probably only 1". That's pretty standard (3/4" panel + install space). That's assuming you don't just have cabinets with a finished back and no decorative doors/end panels. If that's what you have, then you don't have a panel to remove. I agree with others -- you did NOT make a mistake by not having seating at the island....See More
Marilyn Stirrett
3 years ago
PROBeverlyFLADeziner
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoTurn the drapes into striped panels so that it appears purposeful. However, this will only work if the fabrics are similar
You could purchase the correct length panels and then apply the matching fabric on the leading edge and the hem of the panel.
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BeverlyFLADeziner
3 years agoThis is the proportion when you add onto 84" drapes to reach 133" It's a bit wonky to me since the 'border' will extend higher than the door knobs on the doors.
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Lidia
3 years agoDifficult to say for sure without pics of your material. I had pendelton fabric but only enough to cobble some projects together. I found a matching heavyweight canvas in a coordinating color for the bottom of the panels and then “tied” them together by adding a thin border of another color from the pendelton wool pattern, I think it turned out great. The other option was to add fabric to the top AND bottom but that seemed too “busy” for me.
Marilyn Stirrett thanked Lidiaeld6161
3 years ago
Denise Marchand
3 years agoAdding fabric to the top or bottom of the existing curtain panels is not an option you should consider as there would be no linear delineation in relation to the rest of the room.
Also rings used at that height usually do not work because the scale of the rings is tiny compared to the overall length. A oversized custom pleat at the top would fare well. It's always a good idea, when designing a custom window treatment, to have the workroom send over their fabricator to advise on proper dimensions, as they have seen the good and bad of what can be accomplished.
An interesting multiple border along the entire perimeter of the curtain panel would customize it nicely and make up for the 49" you need to make up for the length.
For instance, from your existing panel, consider +5" coordinating color fabric + 3" trim + 4" fabric + 3" trim + 10" matching available fabric. Here are some inspiration pics. If you post your existing fabric, it would help us all.
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BeverlyFLADeziner