Driven Mad by Draperies

Hi, I would make the rod 149" wide. Take your window multiply by 1.33 for stack back so you curtains will clear the window when open. This is

149". Now if you want 2 panels, one on each side of the window, with 2.5 times fullness, you will need 3.5 widths of fabric in each panel. If a solid fabric, and floor length, say 84" long, this would be 19.5 yards total of fabric needed. This translates to: 84" of panel plus 8" for your hem and 8" for your header. All of this fabric will be pleated up to fit your 149" rod. Ameyo

Doug Kanter wrote:

If you buy the pleating tape, I think there is a formula for how much tape covers how much distance, which takes the pleating into account.

Try looking at the pleating stuff and see if you can figure an accurate measurement from that?

HTH...........

This is from "Curtains, Draperies and Shades" by Sunset. It's the first book I go to about curtains of any sort. :)

I'll give you the equations then at the bottom I'll define all the terms for you. I'll also include the "normal" figures for some of the blanks in the equations.

First you have to figure out how many Widths of fabric you need. That equation looks like this:

Left Extension + Window opening + Right extension = Rod, pole, or board size

• Return + Overlap + return = Finished Width x Fullness + side hems = Total Width Required

You then divide the Total Width Required by the Usable Fabric Width (how wide the actual fabric is minus any selvedges) = Number of Widths

Ok. Then you can move on to calculate the total yards needed. That equation looks like this:

Distance above + Opening + Distance Below = Finished Length + Top Allowance

• Hem + 1" ravel allowance = Cut Length

Then:

Cut Length x Number of Widths = Required Fabric in Inches / 36 = Yards Needed.

Left or Right Extension: How far the window treatment extends to the side of the window. For drapes on a traverse rod, you have to allow for Stackback. Stackback: "for most fabrics you will need to allow 1/3 the width of the glass area (or the area you wish to expose) for the stackback. For a two way draw treatment, place half the stackback on each side of the glass."

Return: Distance from the front of the hardware to the wall (if you want the curtains to go around that corner)

Overlap: The distance the drapes will overlap when they are closed. "For traversing draperies, add 1 1/2" to each panel for overlap"

Fullness: For pleated drapes, fullness is usually 2 1/2 x finished width

Distance above: for pleated drapes usually 5" above opening

Distance Below: usually 1/2" from floor

Top allowance: 8"

Lower hems: 8"

Side hems : 6" total (that's 3" per side if you have more than one panel, you will need to add that 6" to each one)

Now, the other thing you need to know is that drapery fabric is usually 60" wide. If you are using a solid color this will all work for you just fine. If you are using a print, you will get in the neighborhood with this worksheet. But with prints you have to match the print, and that usually means you will need extra fabric.

HTH

Sharon

Quote: "Now, the other thing you need to know is that drapery fabric is usually 60" wide. "

Drapery fabric is typically 54" wide and sometimes is 48". Very seldom do you find 60" drapery fabric. Whether the pattern is up the roll (typical) or railroaded makes a difference in the figures. All of the calculations he may have gotten could be in the ball park, depending on fabric chosen. Go to carrscorner dot.com and ask in the public section, there are window treatment professionals there. Perry

Very good answers by everyone. A couple of quick additions - drapery fabric is usually 54" not 60" wide. As Ameyo said, you need 3 1/2 widths per panel. If the fabric is not a solid but a print, then the widths need to be cut so that the patterns match. Not really difficult - a very common repeat in the fabric industry is 27". Every panel needs to be cut in an even multiple of 27", so as Ameyo said 84" plus 8" for hems plus 8" for header equals 100" but widths would need to be cut 108" in order for the patterns to match when seamed together. Hope this helps.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I'm digesting the info, but unfortunately, work is interfering with enjoyment today. :-) I'd appreciate it if you'd stay tuned in case I have more questions.

-Doug

We're always here - being an international group, someone is always on duty, 24/7! ;)

As a custom drapery manufacturer the easiest way to do it is add 15" on either side for stacking then divide that number by 15" for pleating. (This will be 300% fullness which is standard for custom drapes.) The cut length on 108" is pretty good given you will likely have at most a

27" repeat.

By my calculations you need 24 yards of fabric. If you want to save on fabric get 21 and you will have 250% fullness.

The reason you have had wide ranges in fabric amounts likely relates to the different finished lengths, fullnesses and pattern repeats used. (in other words if you go to the floor in most homes you will have a

84" to 100" drapery length. However if they just make it to be 4" above and below the window like in an apartment you will need significantly less fabric.)

If you can avoid it at all don't make your own draperies and make sure whoever you use is a quality shop. The majority of the cost of draperies is fabric. If you go low budget you may save but regret what they did with your fabric.

This runs counter to my experience in the UK. My next door neighbour and friend of 20 years manages a custom curtain shop, and generally, whatever you pay for the fabric and findings is half the cost of the finished curtains, made with pinch pleats rather than tape. Tape, she says, is for home sewists! (I've done them both ways, and making them by hand is waaaaaay better!) But 3" pencil pleat tape *is* used in the trade, and gives good results if you want to hide the curtain tops behind a valance or pelmet. Once you start adding fancy pelmets and swags and the like, the cost goes up again. Decent curtain fabric runs at £20-£30 per metre.

If you score the kind of bargain I did for my dining room curtains, and make them yourself, you can save a bundle. My fabric cost £2.50 per m, (originally about £25 per m), the lining (thermal blackout lining)was about £4 rather than the shop's £10, and in making them myself I saved over £500. The quote from a local shop (rather than my friend's shop) was £580: I made them for £57! People still ask where I had them made. I've only bought one pair of curtains in 25 years, and that was to match the bedding for my son's room.

The friend with the very tall windows that I helped make curtains with chose a glorious shot silk, they were bump interlined, and fully lined. They then had serious swag valances... The fabric alone cost the best part of £3000. In making them we saved another £3000. It was heavy work, but with two good heavy sewing machines (her Bernina and my Husqvarna), a couple of large tables, and the ability to sew straight seams FAAAST, we got some good stuff done, and they look seriously professional, in no small part due to her good work with the steam iron!

Some of the best traditional methods of making curtains I've seen are in Caroline Wrey's book: The Complete Book of Curtains and Drapes, Lady Caroline Wrey, ISBN 0-7126-4697-3. (London, Ebury Press, 1991.

Generally speaking, I dislike making curtains: it's boring! And heavy... I much prefer historical costumes, tailoring, quilting... but I can save so much making curtains myself that there has to be a serious reason not to do so! How they look when finished is never an issue.

Could you please explain the fullness numbers I've seen mentioned here?

If you have a curtain that's just the width of the curtain rod, when the curtains are shut you'll have two flat pieces of fabric. No gathers. So you need extra width. The heading tape pulls the extra in to give gathers/pleats at the top.

The standard finished width is twice (skimpy) to three times (generous) the width of the curtain rod. Hence, you'll see instructions to multiply the width of the rod by two or three for fullness.

Make sense?

Perfect sense. Thanks. A woman at a custom drapery store was unable to explain it clearly. She's just been removed from the list of lucky candidates. By the way, she was the manager. 50-something years old. I'm accustomed to teenage retail slime who don't mind looking stupid, but this age group? I thought we were better than that.

Maybe I'll mail her a printed copy of your explanation. :-)

Age is no guarantee of wisdom, present company excepted.