Can I attach pocketless drapery panels to a traverse rod?

August 23, 2007 11:03 AM

How can I attach drapery panels to a traverse rod? The panels don't have any pockets or slits or flaps.

I moved into a new place. I found some nice drapery panels at a store, but the hem doesn't have any place for the slip-on drapery hooks to go into. The drapery panels are essentially sheets of fabric with a hem--no flaps, no slits, or anything. Anything I can find online implies that my drapery panels should have a little pocket in the "heading" for the slip-in drapery hooks.

I think I'd need something with a clip end and a hook end.

I would just return the panels to the store and get some that will work, but the receipt went missing during my move. I could just eat the cost, but I'd much rather find a way to attach these panels to the existing rods.

posted by adamwolf to home & garden (8 comments total)

This is an example of drapery clips, which may work for you.
posted by that girl at 11:07 AM on August 23, 2007

Or these.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:10 AM on August 23, 2007

The pins that MrMoonPie used may work--is it hard to attach the pins properly?
posted by adamwolf at 11:29 AM on August 23, 2007

I've used both the long and short ones from MrMoonPies' link. They work as well as the pocket type if a little more dangerously. The longer type (3224) are easier to thread if your hem is long enough to accommodate them. Plus the longer ones keep your hem from falling over. I've always run them in between the two layers of fabric at the hem so that the folded over part is supported by the narrow bend in the hook (the large bend of course going onto the rod or rod hooks).
posted by Mitheral at 12:17 PM on August 23, 2007

that girl's clips come with the rings they're hooked to. I have a ton of them, because we didn't use the clips. If you want some, email me. For a limited time only, my email is in my profile.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:18 PM on August 23, 2007

I don't think that you should use the pins that MrMoonPie linked to - those are meant to be used in curtains with special pockets to receive them (such as these)

I think those hooks, if used in your plain panels, could end up damaging the fabric, and likely wouldn't look all that nice either.

If the rod you have is the type I am picturing, it isn't really meant to be seen - it should be behind the top of the curtain. That will be difficult with the panels that you have picked out.

I would suggest that you try to find something more along these lines. Some sort of spring clip with a hook that you could hang the curtain with. Again, if your existing rod is unsightly, you may not like the look of this solution.
posted by davey_darling at 2:15 PM on August 23, 2007

d_d, those are the same as the ones in that girl's link, that I have a bunch of.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:17 PM on August 23, 2007

Thanks guys, but I convinced the store to give me my money back.
posted by adamwolf at 1:27 PM on August 24, 2007