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Allowances for Fullness, Bottom Hems, Side
Hems and Rod Pocket
When fabricating
curtains there is always a choice between good and best. And
as always, your budget and the look you want to achieve will
both dictate what your finished product will be. The bottom
hems, side hems and rod pocket as well as what fullness or gather
will be involved in your decision on how many yards the project
will use.
First
things first. Before you start you may want to
go to our "Designing Window Treatments"
page to get ideas on what your final look can achieve.
 Once you have decided the ultimate look you
then should decide what fullness or gather you wish to see in
your finished curtains. It may be a good idea to gather a sheet
on a long piece of pipe or rod to see how much gather would
look good to you. When figuring on this you can use fabric in
the amount of 1 ½, 2, 2 ½ or 3 times the rod length. This is
known as the fullness. As an example, most ready made lace curtains
are shown with a 1 ½ times fullness, ready made draperies are
mostly 2 times fullness, custom draperies 2 ½ times fullness
and custom sheers are 3 times fullness. To some degree the weight
or heaviness of the fabric makes a difference as well. You would
not want to make a heavy velvet curtain as full as an antique
satin curtain and certainly far less full than a lace curtain
or a sheer curtain.
Once you have decided the fullness you next
need to consider what size and style the rod pocket, side and
bottom hems will be. Ready made curtains and draperies are generally
sewn using what are called single hems. This means that the
fabric is folded up and turned over just enough to be sewn.
This is a good way to save some yardage but does have a disadvantage.
When sunlight is behind the drapery the turned over raw edge
can be seen. If the hem is such that it is not back lighted
it a single hem may be what you want. There is, however, an
additional advantage to having a double hem which is to add
some body and weight to the curtain which helps it drape better.
Custom curtains, sheers and draperies are always finished with
double rod pocket, side and bottom hems. A bottom hem is folded
up double the amount needed for the hem and the top part is
folded down to the original crease. When this is done you also
do not see the raw edge because it is folded completely down.
The size of the hems can be quite different
as well. On a ready made product the bottom hem is usually 2
or 3 inches in width. Custom bottom hems are always 4 and sometimes
5 inches to give a more quality look. The side hems on a ready
made curtain are usually ½ or 1 inch in width single hems and
custom are almost always 1 1/2 inches in width double hems.
Occasionally on lace curtains the selvedges or sides are finished
in a pattern and there is no need for a side hem. The rod pocket
for a curtain rod is generally 1 1/2 inches in width for either
ready made or custom curtains, the first being single and the
other double. There can also be a top ruffle added above the
rod pocket which can be 1, 2 or even 3 inches in height. It
is part of the same rod pocket hem with an additional sewing
line down from the top to form the rod pocket.
Good luck with your next window curtain
project.
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