7 tips to help place a perfect DIY curtain order

Buying custom-made DIY curtains online comes with lots of rewards (for starters, it’s normally cheaper and quicker) but there some risks involved, especially if you've never done it before. 

We want every order we supply to be perfect, so to help minimise the risks, we recommend reading the below tips before starting your DIY curtains ordering journey...

1.  Try before you buy

When you’re buying curtains online, it’s essential to allow some time to order fabric samples first. Reviewing fabrics in your own home provides much greater assurance that the styles and colours you like the look of will perfectly match your lighting and interior decor.

Please be aware that if you choose to skip the sampling stage, you do so at your own risk as our custom-made products cannot be returned.

2. Careful measuring counts

It almost goes without saying (although we will anyway!), but taking precise measurements is the single most important factor in ensuring you end up with great fitting curtains. Some practical tips on this…

• Use a metal tape measure. In our experience, laser measures are not always completely reliable.
  
  

• Wherever possible, get someone to record each measurement as you take it. This helps prevent mistakenly recording the wrong digits after you’ve put the tape measure away.
  
  

• ALWAYS review our comprehensive measuring guide before commencing measuring ... and if you’ve already measured for other suppliers, there may be subtle differences in our measuring requirements, so you'll need to re-measure.
  
  

3. Pinch pleats or S-fold waves?

While this selection is primarily down to personal aesthetic preference, it’s worth noting a single S-fold curtain has a front to back depth of around 110mm, whereas a single pinch pleated curtain has a depth around 90mm. 

The slightly flatter profile of pinch pleat headed curtains can help to slightly reduce the amount of light that can creep in behind the heading area. This is why we recommend pairing a pinch pleat headed blockout with a S-fold (wave) sheer in double curtains.

The reduced heading depth for a pinch pleat can also be a useful if you’re planning to install inside a tight bulkhead or recess, especially with double curtains.

4. Wall or ceiling fixed?

This choice can be pre-determined by existing interior factors such as aircon units, established furniture or cornicing - but it can also be a cosmetic choice. 

Ceiling (or top) fixed curtains offer more dramatic looks and also provide extra fabric coverage to help reduce external light bleed.

Wall (or face) fixed curtains work well to elegantly frame a window, or when you’re styling your curtains for more of a classic look. Equally, wall fixing may be the best choice when cornicing is already present as ceiling fixing can become problematic.

One additional practical consideration is top fixing won’t allow for any fine adjustments to your curtain position in relation to your flooring - whereas face fixing will. So, if you’re looking for maximum control over the final installation outcome, face fixing can be the better choice.

5. Fully stacked!

Curtains can be made with a variety of stacking options, the most popular being a traditional centre opening stack.  

Before deciding on a stack, it’s worth considering how the curtains will be used on a day-to-day basis. For instance, if you want to block out as much light as possible (say, in a bedroom), a single draw stack may be a better option than centre opening.

It’s also important to think about how much the fabric will bunch when the curtains are drawn open. For our curtains, fabric bunching is always calculated as 30% of the total curtain width. So, if you’re ordering a 3000mm wide curtain, your bunching (when drawn to one side) will be nearly 1000mm of fabric. If the curtain is made with a centre opening, this becomes about 500mm on each side. 

6. Stylish bottoms

Getting the bottom of your curtain to sit just where you want it to in relation to your flooring is achievable but requires extremely careful measuring from the get-go. 

We provide three ‘bottom style’ options to choose from when ordering - off the floor, no floor deduction and puddling. These options allow for the same measuring process to be used for any order, but the adjustments applied for manufacturing will give slightly different bottom position results. These are explained as follows:  

Off the floor

Curtains will be made with a small deduction to the ordered drop length and should sit just above the floor, typically by about 8-10mm. This is regarded as the 'safer' option as the raised position helps keep the curtains free from dirt or damage and also allows for some fine adjustment to the drop position (when face fixing).

No floor deduction

Curtains will be made to the ordered drop length and should sit in close proximity to the floor (assuming your provided drop measurement followed our measuring guide advice). No floor deduction is also the best option for 'short drop' curtains as it does not deduct anything from the desired drop length.

Puddling

Curtains will be made with a small additional amount of fabric to extend them beyond the drop measurement, creating a puddling effect on the floor. It's important to note that puddling is typically not suitable for curtains hung in 'high traffic' areas where dirt or damage is more likely.

Please note - all curtains supplied with our designer track system are manufactured with a mandatory 15mm fabric deduction to allow for the underslung position.

The majority of our sheer curtains are supplied with a 5mm rolled weighted hem as standard (Allusion and Cloud sheers being the exceptions as they can only be supplied with an 80mm sewn hem). Our blockout curtains are supplied with an 80mm sewn hem as standard and this cannot be changed.

If you would like to have your sheer curtain manufactured with an 80mm sewn hem, this option will be available for an additional fee while customising your order.

7. A final check 

If you've been working towards placing a new order for days or even weeks, it's worth spending a few extra minutes double checking your order customisations before pressing "Add to cart".

Things to keep an especially close eye on are fabric colour selections and your final entered measurements (these are always width first and drop second). Additionally, being completely sure of your stacking and bottom position selections is critical, as we may make adjustments based on these specific selections.

Lastly, we recommend reading through our Terms & Conditions and Delivery & Returns information before proceeding with an order. And if you're in any doubt about anything, drop us an email or give us a call so we can work through any questions you may have before proceeding.