An Indianapolis Homeowner's Guide to Custom Drapery for 2008

Indianapolis Window Treatments

Custom drapery is the one window covering that is genuinely made rather than bought, which means the decisions all happen before anything is cut. Pleat style, fullness, lining and finished length are locked in at the measure, and none of them can be fixed later with a steamer. This is what a good workroom needs to know, and what a good measure in an Indianapolis home has to establish before the fabric is even ordered.

Pleat Styles and Fullness

Every custom drapery order starts with a pleat decision, because it shapes everything else about how the panel behaves. Pinch pleat is built around a stiff buckram header and tacked by hand, the tailored choice that holds its shape for years on rings or a traverse track. A two finger version uses less fabric and drapes a bit softer, suited to a more relaxed Indianapolis family room. Goblet pleat holds a rounded, stuffed shape that only really works on a panel that stays put, since daily drawing wears the shape out fast. Ripplefold and grommet both skip traditional pleats: ripplefold rides a dedicated track for an even wave that stacks tight, while grommet rings ride straight on a rod sized to match.

Fullness ratio is the flat fabric width divided by the width the panel actually covers once hung. Two times fullness on a 50 inch span means roughly 100 inches of fabric before hems and returns. Pleated drapery typically runs 2 to 2.5 times fullness, and dropping below that makes the pleats look pinched. Ripplefold gets specified as a percentage instead, most often 80 or 100 percent.

Lining Choices and Fabric Behavior

An unlined panel lets light move through freely and feels soft, but it also fades fastest, since nothing sits between the face fabric and the sun. Standard lining, a sateen layer sewn behind the face fabric, adds body to the panel and reduces and slows fading, even though no lining stops it for good.

Blackout lining is coated to stop light passing through the cloth, and it does not seal a room by itself: light still gets around the panel's edges without generous overlap and proper returns. Interlining, a flannel layer between face fabric and lining, costs the most of any lining option. The extra weight falls into deeper, fuller folds, and it takes some of the edge off sound in a hard room. Linen answers to humidity more than any other common drapery fabric, so a hem that kissed the floor in spring can drag by August. Velvet demands sturdy hardware because of its own weight, and sheers need the most fullness of anything on this list.

Choosing Drapery Room by Room

Shades control light. Drapery does something a shade cannot: it softens a room's sound and gives a window visual weight against the wall.

• Living rooms: highest return in the house. Mount high and wide. Stationary panels work well over a shade that handles the actual light control.
• Dining rooms: formal pleats, pinch or goblet, with interlining if the budget allows. Used mostly at night, so closed panels fit the room's purpose.
• Primary bedrooms: blackout lined panels over a room darkening shade, with full overlap and proper returns, for genuine darkness.
• Home offices: stationary panels beside a solar shade, reducing both glare and echo in a room with hard surfaces.
• Kitchens and bathrooms: mostly skip full length panels, since grease and steam favor something wipeable instead.

In Indianapolis, the drapery installations that hold up best share two traits: the hardware went up wider and higher than expected, and the fabric decision came after the mounting plan, not before.

Every drapery problem we get called about traces back to a measure that skipped something: the projection of the shade underneath, the level of the floor, the wall space the stack needed, or a finished length nobody double checked. Get those settled and the sewing is the easy part. Indianapolis Window Treatments measures for drapery after the shade is in, not before. Call (317) 854-7158 to start an Indianapolis project properly.

What Custom Drapery Costs

Yardage is a formula, not a guess: multiply the width covered by the fullness, add returns and hems, divide by the usable fabric width for the number of cuts, then multiply by finished length. Move fullness from 2 to 2.5 times and the fabric bill on that window climbs. Pattern repeat adds more, since every cut has to line up the design, and a large repeat on a tall window can waste real yardage.

Nationally, custom drapery measured and installed runs roughly $250 to $2,600 a window, usually toward the upper half since yardage and labor both run higher than on most shades. Hardware is often quoted as its own line, so check whether a number you are comparing includes it. Cleaning is dry clean or clean in place only, since a home wash shrinks the face and lining at different rates. Ask any company for the fullness ratio, the lining type, whether hardware is included, and the lead time.

Hardware, Stack Back and Floor Break

Stack back is the amount of wall a fully open panel eats up, and it grows with fullness, fabric weight, lining and pleat style. It is also the reason half the drapery you see is sitting on top of the glass instead of off to the side. Run the rod wider than the window and higher than the trim, and the panels have somewhere to go besides the glass. Where the wall runs short on one side, a one way draw stacking entirely to the open side solves it.

A return tucks the panel back to the wall at the end of the rod, and without it, light runs down that outside edge. An overlap lets two panels cross in the middle so closing them leaves no gap. The bracket needs framing or a proper anchor, and a long rod needs a center support. Float, about half an inch off the floor, handles daily use and pets. Kiss just brushes the floor, stunning when level and merciless when not. Break adds an inch or two that folds softly at the bottom. Puddle piles three inches or more and belongs only on a panel that never moves. Measure the floor in a few spots, since plenty of Indianapolis floors are not as level as they look.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can drapery hang over blinds or shades I already have?

Yes, and that's how most drapery actually gets installed. The one thing to check is projection. Measure how far the existing headrail, cassette or fascia sticks out from the wall, then pick a bracket with enough reach that the panel never rubs it. A standard bracket often will not clear a deep fascia. Mount the rod higher and wider than the shade so the stack sits off the glass, and if the shade is motorized, keep the battery access reachable.

Does blackout lining make a room completely dark?

Not by itself. Blackout lining stops light through the cloth, but light still comes around the panel at the sides and over the top unless you have generous overlap in the middle and returns that carry the fabric back to the wall. Needle holes at the tacks can also show as small points of light on a bright window. The dependable setup is a blackout lined panel closed over a room darkening or blackout shade, which covers the edges the panel alone cannot.

What is interlining and is it worth paying for?

Interlining is a soft flannel layer sewn between the face fabric and the lining. It adds weight so the panel falls into deeper, more even folds, and it takes some of the edge off sound in a hard room. It's the most expensive lining choice, and it's also the one that makes an ordinary fabric look expensive. In a formal dining room or a primary bedroom, it earns its cost. In a casual den, standard lining is plenty.