Dressing A Drape (Part 1)

Like most of us, we purchase our window treatments right off the shelf at a local store. They come with a variety of hanging options but most of them leave the panel of drapery ending at the finial of the rod. If left this way, the light of the window seeps out of the sides of your treatment giving them that shelf bought look.

The picture below shows the open edge of the panel.

To dress virtually any drapery and give it a finished, custom look, you need to draw the side panel of the left and right drapery to the wall, closing off the seeping light.
Sometimes it is as simple as determining the distance from the rod to the back wall and pulling that much fabric off the drapery rod. To determine this, measure the space from the front of the rod to the bracket attached to the wall. You can add an extra ½ inch to give yourself some material to fold, so that you can use a tack or hook to attach it to the wall.

Remove the finial first.

You can either make a hole or slit in the drapery pocket and either screw the finial back in or pierce the slit with the end of the rod, allowing the flap of material to be drawn back to the wall.

The picture below shows a small hole that goes through the panel’s top pocket and is big enough to permit the finial to be screwed back in place.

Place finial back on the rod. The extended flap of material can be attached to the back wall using a drapery hook hung on a nail or use a push tack from the inside so as not to be visible.

The finished result allows the window panels to turn and grace the walls on each side, there is no light seepage coming out from the edges and it gives an upgraded custom look.

In December we will share with you part two of how to dress your drapery: Till then….“Hang in there!”