A Guide to Curtain Heading Styles

The curtain heading is key in creating the style you’re looking for from your window treatments. The fabric is important, of course, but how it looks at the window is shaped by the heading. Here's a guide to the curtain headings our clients love and how they shape the look of a window.

Hand pleated curtain headings:

• Structured, tailored look

• Curtains stack back neatly

• Traditionally created with buckram to stiffen the heading, but a more relaxed look can be created without

• There's more flexibility in the key elements of the design: the depth of the heading, the number of pleats and the fullness

Triple pleat and goblet headings are favoured for a more formal, traditional look. They require more fullness (therefore more fabric) than other styles to balance out their detailing.

Double pleat headings have a slightly more contemporary feel than the more detailed and fussy triple pleat. They require a little less fabric to make a lovely full-looking curtain. Both triple and double pleat curtains stack back neatly beneath the pole or track, making them ideal for windows with limited stackback space. They will also look very neat under a pelmet or other style of top treatment.

Euro pleat, a little like an upside-down triple or double pleat, produces a very elegant look with pleats nipped together at the top before flowing down the length of the curtain. They can be either double or triple pleats, the double offering a cleaner look to the triple.

All handmade pleated headings can be 'pleated to pattern' when the size and style of the pattern lends itself to this technique. It can create a strong visual when the curtain is drawn open. Not all patterns work well though, so we can advise accordingly.

Machine applied, taped curtain headings:

• The design of the curtain is dictated by the heading tape

• Machine stitching is visible across the top of the curtain (except for the flop over)

• It's a more budget friendly option (though a wave heading requires a specific style of glider which increases the cost overall)

• Taped headings with strings can be adjusted to fit slightly different sized windows so a great option if you're renting

Wave heading, as the name suggests, creates uniform ‘S’ folds. It offers a sleeker alternative to eyelet curtains, hanging from a track (or tracked pole) with gliders connected together on a cord for a perfectly consistent look. Think floor-to-ceiling hotel styling in your home.

The taped pencil pleat heading is the most budget-friendly. If you buy ready-mades, they often come with a machined pencil pleat heading. The benefit of bespoke is more choice in the depth of the header; off the peg, they are generally all 7.5cm, but floor-to-ceiling curtains balance better with a deeper heading. We also use premium woven rather than string pocket tapes to ensure longevity.

Cottage top and flop-over designs are also created using a small 2.5cm - 5cm pencil pleat tape. They give a whimsical feel - soft and quite romantic.

All these headings can be enhanced with bespoke details to create something truly unique. Trimmings stitched down the leading edge, covered buttons at the base of each triple pleat, ric-rac along the edge of the flop top - the possibilities are endless. If you’d like to understand how you could personalise your curtains with unique finishing touches, get in touch to explore the possibilities.

Take a look at our portfolio page for examples of the different heading styles.

Glossary

Stackback – The space the curtain takes up when it’s open. Ideally, this will be wall space so that the window is completely clear to give maximum light. The size of stackback depends on the size of the window (and therefore the size of the curtain), the thickness of the fabric, whether the curtain is interlined or not, and how many rings or gliders there are.

Pleating-to-pattern - This involves calculating the pleats/spaces so that the same part of the pattern lies in the middle of the pleat. It works well with patterns that are already quite structured. It's important to consider how the curtains will look when they're open as only one part of the pattern will show, the rest is lost in the folds.

Leading edge – The edge that’s pulled across the pole or track. On a pair of curtains, the leading edges meet in the middle of the window.

Return edge – The outer edges that return to the wall. The returns are made as long as needed to flow from the pole/track to the wall, blocking out light from leaking around the sides.