Drapery Notions?

All drapery tapes, including pleater and shirring tapes, come in different sizes with different features so that almost any style of drapery, shade, or valance is easy to make.

Some of the drapery tapes are:

1. pleater tape
2. one-cord shirring tape
3. four-cord shirring tape
4. pleater hooks
5. three-cord shirring tape
6. four-cord shirring tape
7. tape with rings
8. three-cord shirring tape
9. shirring tape without rings
10. four-cord shirring tape
11. two-cord shirring tape
12. four-cord shirring tape
13. buckram

At this point, I would like to point out that shirring tapes are also called gathering tapes.

Buckram, as you may or may not know, is a stiff woven or non-woven fabric tape that is used as backing under the top pleated edge of curtains.  Buckram offers style flexibility, allowing you to determine the type of pleat and how full and far apart the pleats will be.

Pleater tape is a woven tape that is used to make pleated draperies quickly and easily.  The tape is woven with slender pockets equally spaced across the width; four-pronged pleater hooks are inserted into the pockets to form the traditional three-fold pinch pleats on the right side.

I have used all the items noted above over the years and have found that the work and fear that goes into window coverings are minimized when working with such materials.

With this in mind, does it put your mind at ease a bit more when you are considering home sewing your own home window coverings?

Submitted by:  Loretta Crowder

© 2011, Loretta. All rights reserved.