The Drapery Diary: The Case for Custom
Use this handy guide to discover the ins and outs of customized drapery
Jess McBride
June 30, 2016
Houzz Contributor. Custom decorating professional and content creator for the home design industry with a lifelong passion for color, pattern, and texture of every "stripe"
Houzz Contributor. Custom decorating professional and content creator for the home... More
Spending hundreds or even thousands on custom draperies can feel like a dubious indulgence if you don’t have a clear sense of what exactly you’re paying for and why. As with any major investment, it’s important to do your research and be informed. Consider this your guide to the secret world of custom drapery design.
Construction and Customization
Draperies consist of a face fabric and often a lining fabric, and are finished with side and bottom hems and a header. The header is, basically, what determines the style of the window treatment since this is where the pleats, grommets or ties reside.
The first advantage of custom is that you are able to choose the fabric you want, the style you want, the type of lining you want and any additional trimmings or banding. On pleated styles, you can even choose the size of the pleat so that taller windows might have a 6-inch pleat compared with perhaps a 3-inch one for shorter windows. This level of customization isn’t simply a creative high; sometimes, due to oddly shaped or specially proportioned windows, going custom is a necessity.
Draperies consist of a face fabric and often a lining fabric, and are finished with side and bottom hems and a header. The header is, basically, what determines the style of the window treatment since this is where the pleats, grommets or ties reside.
The first advantage of custom is that you are able to choose the fabric you want, the style you want, the type of lining you want and any additional trimmings or banding. On pleated styles, you can even choose the size of the pleat so that taller windows might have a 6-inch pleat compared with perhaps a 3-inch one for shorter windows. This level of customization isn’t simply a creative high; sometimes, due to oddly shaped or specially proportioned windows, going custom is a necessity.
Measuring for Stationary Panels
Do you plan to open and close your draperies, or will they be purely decorative side panels? If you’re going the stationary route, your seamstress or designers will probably ask you how many “widths” of fabric you’d like to use for each panel. Most home decor fabrics are about 54 inches wide, and you can expect that each 54-inch width of fabric will cover 20 to 30 inches of your drapery rod, depending on the fullness and pleat style.
One width is suitable for smaller windows, but for anything wider than about 3 to 4 feet, you may want to consider using one-and-a-half widths per panel for more lushness and body. For taller windows as well, the more voluminous your draperies, the better since one-width panels will have the tendency to look like two thin pencils next to your windows. It’s all about proportion.
Designer tip: For small windows, it may be tempting to cut costs by ordering half-width panels to be made. Don’t do it! In covering only about 10 inches of your drapery rod, they tend to look skimpy and accidental.
Do you plan to open and close your draperies, or will they be purely decorative side panels? If you’re going the stationary route, your seamstress or designers will probably ask you how many “widths” of fabric you’d like to use for each panel. Most home decor fabrics are about 54 inches wide, and you can expect that each 54-inch width of fabric will cover 20 to 30 inches of your drapery rod, depending on the fullness and pleat style.
One width is suitable for smaller windows, but for anything wider than about 3 to 4 feet, you may want to consider using one-and-a-half widths per panel for more lushness and body. For taller windows as well, the more voluminous your draperies, the better since one-width panels will have the tendency to look like two thin pencils next to your windows. It’s all about proportion.
Designer tip: For small windows, it may be tempting to cut costs by ordering half-width panels to be made. Don’t do it! In covering only about 10 inches of your drapery rod, they tend to look skimpy and accidental.
Measuring for Functioning Treatments
If your drapes are to open and close, yardage will be calculated based on the total finished width and finished length. To calculate finished length, you’ll want to measure from the floor to wherever on the wall you plan on mounting the draperies. To calculate finished width, measure your window from one end of the frame to the other and add at least 8 to 12 extra inches for mounting.
One important caveat relates to wide-width fabrics, which typically come in 118-inch widths. The pattern on wide-width fabrics tends to be “railroaded,” or turned sideways, so that instead of running vertically off the bolt, the pattern runs horizontally. The purpose of railroaded fabrics, both in upholstery and drapery, is to allow the fabric to be applied without seams every 54 inches, while keeping the pattern properly oriented. This is especially helpful when using sheer drapery fabrics that can be trickier to work with; not having to sew multiple widths together is advantageous to the seamstress.
Before choosing a wide-width fabric, though, ensure that your total finished length is less than 98 inches since a solid 20 inches is chewed up by allowances for generous double-turned hems and headers that are, themselves, a hallmark of quality drapery construction.
If your drapes are to open and close, yardage will be calculated based on the total finished width and finished length. To calculate finished length, you’ll want to measure from the floor to wherever on the wall you plan on mounting the draperies. To calculate finished width, measure your window from one end of the frame to the other and add at least 8 to 12 extra inches for mounting.
One important caveat relates to wide-width fabrics, which typically come in 118-inch widths. The pattern on wide-width fabrics tends to be “railroaded,” or turned sideways, so that instead of running vertically off the bolt, the pattern runs horizontally. The purpose of railroaded fabrics, both in upholstery and drapery, is to allow the fabric to be applied without seams every 54 inches, while keeping the pattern properly oriented. This is especially helpful when using sheer drapery fabrics that can be trickier to work with; not having to sew multiple widths together is advantageous to the seamstress.
Before choosing a wide-width fabric, though, ensure that your total finished length is less than 98 inches since a solid 20 inches is chewed up by allowances for generous double-turned hems and headers that are, themselves, a hallmark of quality drapery construction.
Standards to Look For
Custom fabricators know that most of us could and would just as easily pick up a pair of ready-made panels from our favorite online retailer, so they take great care to offer luxurious quality and detail standards that go far above and beyond ready-made offerings, such as double-turned hems and headers and weighted hems, for strength and solidity and a tailored hang. Another such standard is pattern-matching at seams.
Wherever two widths of fabric are joined together, there will naturally be a seam ready to distort your pattern. There is nothing more visually jarring and irksome than admiring a fine piece of craftsmanship, whether a dress, a chair or a curtain, to find that a seam cuts a flower or medallion in half, leaving dead background space until the pattern starts again. Custom creators may specify that you order extra fabric to ensure that they have enough play to match the pattern, but it is worth every penny. Pattern-matching also renders seams less obvious as they recede into the gathers and folds as part of a continuous pattern.
Custom fabricators know that most of us could and would just as easily pick up a pair of ready-made panels from our favorite online retailer, so they take great care to offer luxurious quality and detail standards that go far above and beyond ready-made offerings, such as double-turned hems and headers and weighted hems, for strength and solidity and a tailored hang. Another such standard is pattern-matching at seams.
Wherever two widths of fabric are joined together, there will naturally be a seam ready to distort your pattern. There is nothing more visually jarring and irksome than admiring a fine piece of craftsmanship, whether a dress, a chair or a curtain, to find that a seam cuts a flower or medallion in half, leaving dead background space until the pattern starts again. Custom creators may specify that you order extra fabric to ensure that they have enough play to match the pattern, but it is worth every penny. Pattern-matching also renders seams less obvious as they recede into the gathers and folds as part of a continuous pattern.
Luxurious Linings
Nearly all custom draperies, with the exception of sheers and open-weave casements, are made with lining. Lining should be paired to the drapery fabric based on fiber content. Cotton fabrics will use a cotton liner, and natural fibers mixed with polyester or other synthetics should use a blended liner. This is so that both the face fabric and lining will age similarly, eliminating the likelihood that, after a decade, the lining will bag at the hem because it “grew” at a different rate from the face fabric.
Nearly all custom draperies, with the exception of sheers and open-weave casements, are made with lining. Lining should be paired to the drapery fabric based on fiber content. Cotton fabrics will use a cotton liner, and natural fibers mixed with polyester or other synthetics should use a blended liner. This is so that both the face fabric and lining will age similarly, eliminating the likelihood that, after a decade, the lining will bag at the hem because it “grew” at a different rate from the face fabric.
Supplemental Layers
Custom fabrication also allows for supplemental lining like blackout, thermal suede or interlining to be used to either completely block the light, insulate against outside noise or cold, or simply add body and weight to lighter fabrics such as silk. In fact, it is strongly recommended that silk fabrics always be doubly lined with a natural drapery lining and either a thick napped cotton interlining or an even heavier bump cloth to protect the fragile fibers against sun damage.
Custom fabrication also allows for supplemental lining like blackout, thermal suede or interlining to be used to either completely block the light, insulate against outside noise or cold, or simply add body and weight to lighter fabrics such as silk. In fact, it is strongly recommended that silk fabrics always be doubly lined with a natural drapery lining and either a thick napped cotton interlining or an even heavier bump cloth to protect the fragile fibers against sun damage.
Buckram is another available feature in custom panels that crisps the pleats and holds up droopy cuffs via a fabric stiffener sewn into the header.
Increased Fullness
Added fullness may make the strongest case in favor of custom. While most ready-made draperies are made just 50 percent more full than a flat sheet of fabric hung over the windows, custom standards allot double or even triple the amount of fabric to cover the same expanse to create a much more luxurious and full drape. There are some exceptions, such as flat panels and grommet-style draperies, which are by nature less full, but for all other styles, fuller is usually considered better.
Added fullness may make the strongest case in favor of custom. While most ready-made draperies are made just 50 percent more full than a flat sheet of fabric hung over the windows, custom standards allot double or even triple the amount of fabric to cover the same expanse to create a much more luxurious and full drape. There are some exceptions, such as flat panels and grommet-style draperies, which are by nature less full, but for all other styles, fuller is usually considered better.
Stack-back
Before having your draperies made, you’ll also need to have a pretty good idea of where you plan to hang them. If you would like to preserve your view by stacking them completely off the window when open, there’s a simple formula you’ll need to apply to ensure that you hand over the correct finished width to your seamstress.
To calculate “stack-back,” take a third of your window width (frame to frame) and divide it by two. This will tell you how much linear wall space the panels will take up on either side of the window. At this point, be sure that you have enough wall space to accommodate the stack-back. If everything is a go, add that third back to your window width, and you’ll have the finished width of your drapery.
Before having your draperies made, you’ll also need to have a pretty good idea of where you plan to hang them. If you would like to preserve your view by stacking them completely off the window when open, there’s a simple formula you’ll need to apply to ensure that you hand over the correct finished width to your seamstress.
To calculate “stack-back,” take a third of your window width (frame to frame) and divide it by two. This will tell you how much linear wall space the panels will take up on either side of the window. At this point, be sure that you have enough wall space to accommodate the stack-back. If everything is a go, add that third back to your window width, and you’ll have the finished width of your drapery.
Hardware
It is always recommended to consider hardware at the time of your drapery order, and in some cases, it is imperative. For example, grommet, rod-pocket and tie- or tab-top styles are constructed to fit around a specified rod size. Even in the case of pleated styles, whose headers can accommodate virtually any type of rod from traversing track to decorative rod with rings, you are likely to specify a different finished length if you know your rings hang 2 inches below your rod.
It is always recommended to consider hardware at the time of your drapery order, and in some cases, it is imperative. For example, grommet, rod-pocket and tie- or tab-top styles are constructed to fit around a specified rod size. Even in the case of pleated styles, whose headers can accommodate virtually any type of rod from traversing track to decorative rod with rings, you are likely to specify a different finished length if you know your rings hang 2 inches below your rod.
Maybe you’ve heard that you should have a bracket holding up your rod at roughly 4-foot intervals. (And if you hadn’t heard, now you know.) Once you really start examining your window and clarifying your requirements for a functioning window treatment, you may begin to wonder how exactly you’re supposed to draw your curtains fully closed when there are multiple brackets in the way.
C-shaped rings are designed with a cutout that allows the ring to slide cleanly past the lower-profile lip of bypass brackets. You may not find these innovations as readily available at your average home decor chain, but they have become a staple of the custom drapery world.
C-shaped rings are designed with a cutout that allows the ring to slide cleanly past the lower-profile lip of bypass brackets. You may not find these innovations as readily available at your average home decor chain, but they have become a staple of the custom drapery world.
Wall Returns and Overlaps
Custom draperies are typically made with returns and overlaps to minimize light leakage from the center and sides when the curtains are closed. Your return will depend to some extent on how far your drapery hardware extends from the wall, which is another reason to select hardware before or at the time of your order, but 3½-inch returns are common for a single window treatment, and 5½ inches for the outermost of two layered draperies.
Custom draperies are typically made with returns and overlaps to minimize light leakage from the center and sides when the curtains are closed. Your return will depend to some extent on how far your drapery hardware extends from the wall, which is another reason to select hardware before or at the time of your order, but 3½-inch returns are common for a single window treatment, and 5½ inches for the outermost of two layered draperies.
Ring Creep
Many designers like to add at least 6 extra inches to the finished width of their draperies to account for “ring creep,” or the tendency of rings to bounce forward a bit after being opened into place.
This photo also offers a great visual of the proper way to hang a drapery by its rings. Leaving one ring outside the bracket helps hold the treatment in place as it opens and closes.
More: The Drapery Diary: Tab and Tie Tops
Many designers like to add at least 6 extra inches to the finished width of their draperies to account for “ring creep,” or the tendency of rings to bounce forward a bit after being opened into place.
This photo also offers a great visual of the proper way to hang a drapery by its rings. Leaving one ring outside the bracket helps hold the treatment in place as it opens and closes.
More: The Drapery Diary: Tab and Tie Tops
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Thanks Julie Thome. I'm really dumb about this and sorry to impose, but what do you mean by a pair of 3 width drapes?
Each drapery panel will be 3 widths of fabric wide. No need to apologize for being "dumb"...only if you're in the industry do you begin to understand how to calculate this stuff...I would not expect anyone else to know how to do this!!!
Thanks again Julie.