Understanding Curtain Heading Styles
Please read this style guide for useful for information on heading choices for your curtains. You can go through our guide for choosing which heading style will work best in your room. They are in order of price with pencil pleat curtains being the lowest cost followed by eyelets, pinch pleats and finally goblet.
The Direct Fabrics' Curtain Heading Styles Guide serves as an invaluable resource for anyone looking to enhance their home with the perfect curtains. It meticulously outlines the different types of curtain headings available, providing insights into how each style can impact the overall look and feel of a room. From traditional pleats to modern eyelets, this guide equips you with the knowledge to make an informed decision based on your aesthetic preference, window type, and budget, ensuring that your curtains not only look great but function beautifully as well.
Pencil Pleat Heading
Pencil pleat is the traditional style of curtain heading that is a used in most windows and gives a lovely finish. You have the flexibility from the stitched in curtain tape which allows you to alter the height above your track and pole.
Eyelet Curtains Heading
A modern finish which the pole slots through the curtains, this means you can a lovely feature of your pole with a contrast of the metal against the curtain fabric.
2 Options Available
Pinch Pleat Curtain Heading
The Triple Pinch Pleat Heading is a classic, elegant curtain style characterized by three pinched pleats at the top of the curtain fabric, evenly spaced and sewn together to create a refined, decorative finish. This type of heading is perfect for adding a touch of sophistication to any room, offering a tailored look that suits both traditional and modern interiors. It's suitable for a variety of fabrics and can be hung on curtain tracks or poles, providing versatility in design and installation.
Wave Curtain Heading
Modern and elegant curtain heading either in a 60mm deep pleat or 80mm. The Wave Curtain Heading is designed to create a smooth, continuous wave effect that offers a modern and minimalist aesthetic. This style uses a special track or pole to achieve uniform soft folds, providing a sleek and elegant look that is particularly well-suited for contemporary interiors. The wave heading ensures that curtains hang beautifully with a consistent finish, making it an excellent choice for those seeking a stylish and understated window dressing.
Stage Curtain Heading Options
These are for heavy duty curtains and are used with large tracks. The tietops are simple to put up and adjust if you are wanting some flexibility or using with Pipe and Drape Systems. Also available are Dog clips that can clip onto each glider and are strong and robust. Billet hooks which are a strong plastic self closing clip that clips through the glider
Curtain Fullness – This is the amount of fabric that is used to cover the width of your curtain track or pole. Depending how much flat fabric you have covering your curtain track will mean when it is gathered up you will have more fullness or pleats.
So when deciding how much fullness you require for your window will mean that you will have a different effect. Here is a basic guide to the amount of fullness for standard heading types and location types
Basic Calculation of Curtain Fullness
Fullness = % of Track width.
Track Width + fullness = Total Flat Fabric
Eg Track Width (140cm) + 100% fullness = 280cm
Eg Track Width (140cm) + 50% fullness = 210cm
Heading Styles and Curtain Fullness
Pencil Pleat Curtains & Eyelet Curtains
- A 3 inch or 6 inch pencil pleat heading will normally require 2x the track width or 100% fullness. This add plenty of pleats to a window and as such you will have a luxurious
- An eyelet curtain will usually have 2 x fullness = 100% of the track width.
Pinch Pleat
- A pinch pleat curtain requires more fabric to sew in the pleats as it gathers up tighter. As such you will require 2.5x the track width or 150% fullness.
Types of Curtains
Standard window curtains you will use the guide above to decide on the amount of fabric.
In the case of large stage curtains with a pencil pleat heading the requirement is less. So you will use 1.5x also known as 50% fullness for the curtains. This is to reduce the weight and to have less gather so they may fold back of the stage easier.
Final Point
When deciding on fullness.
Direct Fabrics use 2x fullness for all eyelet and pencil pleat curtains unless stated otherwise and recommend 1.5x fullness for front of house stage curtains.
Direct Fabrics will always round up the widths to the nearest width to avoid wastage.
EG Track width 170cm with Pencil Pleat Curtains (fullness 2x or 100%) = Recommend flat curtain of 340cm.
If using a fabric with a width of 140cm. this would require 2.43 widths of fabric. So Direct Fabrics will use 3 widths of fabric to add more fullness and a better effect.
Where to go next?
Curtains can be confusing so we suggest looking at our full range of curtains. we make to double fullness so you get an incredible finish. We are confident you will love the quality and enjoy buying from our friendly professional team. Check out our hotel curtains range or our flame retardant curtain range.
Other Useful Curtain Guides
