Is it possible to hang ikea curtains on a transverse rod?

11 years ago

I have curtains tht I would like to hang in my family room. They are Ikea "alvine satin" if you would like to google them.

The curtains have a 3 " wide rod pocket all the way across the top. They also have tabs bridging the rod pocket at 9" intervals. Not tab tops, they don't stick up above the curtains.

In the past, I just threaded a rod through the tabs and hung them, but the drapes were seldom pulled. In my current family room for reasons of privacy and light, I'll need to open and close them daily.

I don't really like the look of ring clippies, so I was wondering if I can use these curtains somehow on a center opening transverse rod, or if I can adapt them to be used on a transverse rod?

Or is there a better rod solution? I think all the transverse rods I see in the store are unattractive, almond and very utilitarian, not at all decorative.

And if it helps, my taste is heavily influenced by Ikea catalogs in the 90s : ) kind of modern-Swedish-country. I tend to like black or brownish black hardware. A little feminine is okay, but fairly clean lines. And budget matters, so custom drapes are out of consideration and for budget reasons, I'd like to make the drapes I have work. : )

I think drapery/window treatments are the hardest thing ever. So any help is really appreciated.

Featured Answer

sail_away

11 years ago

If the curtain panels are wide enough (i.e., about 2.5 times the window width), you can purchase pinch pleat tape to attach to the top of the curtain panels. Then, when you insert the pins in the appropriate slots, it will automatically form the pleats. Just do a search for "pinch pleat tape," usually available at a fabric store.

Comments (8)

lindac
11 years ago
There are pin on thingies, with a hook that will fit on the traverse sliders.
They are intended to be pinned into the center of a pleat and then to be hooked onto a rod. But you can hook them where ever you want in the top of a drapery.

Here is a link that might be useful: drapery pins
kiki_thinking
Original Author
11 years ago
Eep! Traverse instead of transverse! *blushes*

Thank you Linda.
Will they look ok if there is no pleat there?
Would I be better off just to go with rings?
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User
11 years ago
Without pleating the curtains, just attaching the hooks along the curtain header will leave you with the leading edges (centers) stretched out straight when you close the curtains and all the extra fabric will be at each side. You will then have to manually distribute the extra fabric along the rod.
kiki_thinking
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you, will look for pinch pleat tape and see what's involved and possibly mess around with the clippy rings too. :)
annzgw
11 years ago
Your drapes are thin so but I don't see why you can't hook some of the lightweight drapery pins into the tabs and hang from those. With 9" spacing you'll just have larger folds when the drapes are open. BTW, be sure to use the lightweight vs the heavy pins for your fabric.
Since the tabs on your drapery headers are 'open' vs sewn vertically to the rod pocket they may tend to pull up unevenly when hung. I suggest you either sew, hand tack, or use fabric glue to secure the tabs to the rod pocket. If this doesn't make sense, let me know.

I purchased my traverse rods from overstock and they have the faux rings already on the rods. I recently converted some grommet drapes using the pins and hanging on a traverse rod.......turned out nice.
gagne123
9 years ago
The IKEA curtains already have beautiful pinch pleat tape built in with markings
Errant_gw
9 years ago
Some do, but not all. I'm not able to find the Alvine Satin on the website, only the Avine Spets.