DRAPERY TERMINOLOGY

• Bracket is a metal piece attached to the wall or casing to support a drapery or curtain rod.

• Curtains are window coverings either hung from rings, or made with a casing so that it slips over a rod. Curtains are informal window coverings.

• Custom-Made-Draperies are made to order in a workroom or decorator shop.

• Draperies, considered more formal than curtains, are generally made of richer, heavier fabrics and lined and often interlined. It is common for draperies to have pleated headings.

• Finials are decorative end pieces on rods (also referred to as “pole ends”).

• French Pleats are three-fold pleats and the one most often used in draperies.

• Fringe is an edging with hanging tassels or threads, used as decoration.

• Goblet Pleats are similar to pinch pleats, except having the top edge padded and pushed out in a goblet type of shape.

• Heading is the hemmed portion across the top of a curtain or drapery.

• Hem refers to finished sides and bottom edges of a drapery.

• Interlining is a fabric, usually of soft material, sewn in between the curtain and the back lining to improve bulk, insulation, and overall drapability.

• Inverted Pleat is a pleat formed the opposite way of a traditional box pleat, in which the edges of the pleat meet in the middle right side of the fabric. Also known as a kick pleat.

• Lining is a fabric backing for a drapery.

• Pair is two equal panels which are either rod pocket or pleated to cover a desired area.

• Panel is a single unit of drapery of one or more widths.

• Pinch Pleats are a drapery heading where the basic pleat is divided into two or three smaller, equal pleats, sewn together at the bottom edge on the right side of the fabric.

• Pleat is a fold of cloth sewn into place to create fullness.

• Pleat To is the finished width of the fabric after it has been pleated. Example: A width of 48” has been pleated to 24” – “Pleat to 24”.

• Width is one strip of material (can be any length) which can either be a flat panel with rod pocket (approximately 48 - 50”wide) or pleated to a finished dimension across the TOP of between 16” and 24”. If the drapery is finished to 24” it would be considered double fullness or 2 to 1; 16” would be considered triple fullness or 3 to 1. Any number of widths can be joined together to make the draperies properly cover the window area.