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kaatluvr_gw

blackout lining for pinch pleated drapes

kaatluvr
10 years ago

hello, I am making pinch pleated drapes for a large (8' x 8') sliding patio door. The drapes will expand about a foot on each side of the door, for stacking. The fabric is a medium weight home dec cotton print. I plan on using drapery hooks to attach to rings on to each pleat to slide on a metal rod. This room gets a lot of sun. It is also where we watch TV and therefore I want to block light. Do I sew the blackout lining to the panel before pleating? Will this make for a very heavy, awkward to sew panel? I am not planning to use pleating tape, but will use buckram. Do I extend the blackout lining into the header? Or do I create a separate panel that I can attach separately to the drapery hooks? If so do I make this separate panel the finished witdth of the pleated panel? Will this allow my drapes to hang nicely or will they bunch up? I really don't want to use 2 rods. Thanks for any advice you may have. I want these drapes to look good, but to make it easy if possible!

Comments (5)

  • Laurie
    10 years ago

    I am not a professional but will give you some advice based on my experiences.

    I made a pinch pleated drape for my large sliding glass door several years ago. We have a wood overhang outside which blocks some of the afternoon sun. I did not line the drape but I did use buckram in the header. The fabric was medium weight home decor cotton...not super thick. After sewing the header, there was a lot of stiffness & thickness in the header for the pleats. If I was to have also included blackout lining in that header, it would have been too heavy & thick for me to work with. It may be a good idea to make a separate blackout lining in your case. I would make the lining about an inch less (than the finished drape) in width as well as length.

    I have sewn a small window panel that included blackout lining sewn in to it. I did not do pinch pleats for this panel. I used rings & clips instead. The blackout lining was inserted into the header before sewing. I used a double fold of the fabric at the header but did not fold the blackout. The blackout goes all the way up into the top of the header. Same idea for the side hems...the fabric is double folded but the blackout is not. The blackout did not need to be sewn at the bottom...it's not sewn in to the hem.

    Hope this helps a little.

    Back side of small drape with blackout (rings & clips)

    Bottom hem and sides

  • kaatluvr
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks so much. I'm concerned if the blackout is separate when the drapes are opened they will not fold into nice pleats. What do you think?

  • Laurie
    10 years ago

    kaayluvr - You bring up a good point. I don't know the answer to how the separate blackout lining will fold/pleat. Hopefully, someone who has experience with this situation will respond with some ideas.

    If you don't get any responses, soon, you should post this on the Home Decorating Forum. There are a lot of sewing people over there and that forum seems to get more traffic.

    One thought may be to skip the buckram all together. Having the blackout lining inside of the double folded header may give enough stability for the header.

  • kaatluvr
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Just wanted to thank everyone who responded and to let everyone know how the drapes turned out. I ended up making the lining separate and hung the lining from the clips that were on the curtain rings. I used drapery hooks on the panels to hook to the rings. So all you see are the rings on the rod. The pleats came out great using buckram they are crisp and the right fullness. When open and stacked to the sides they look fine although there is a bit more fullness at the bottom than top. When closed they look like normal pinch pleated drapes. I would do it again this way. Sorry no pic I don't know how to post one.

  • Laurie
    10 years ago

    Thanks for the follow-up. I really like hearing how projects turn out!
    I'm so glad it worked well for you to make the lining separate.
    I'm trying to picture in my mind how it works....you have rings with
    clips for the blackout. Then, on the same rings, you hooked your pins (from the pinched pleated drapery fabric). Is that correct?

    Sounds good. I wish I could see pics!

    What fullness did you use for the blackout lining?...1, 1 -1/2, 2, 2-1/2, or 3 times the window width?

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