Your quality, custom drape should be: full, lined, pleated, hemmed, and weighted. You care because all these attributes mean that the look is distinct, weighty, and substantial (not flimsy and skimpy). Let's take a closer look into each characteristic.

1. Full All custom drapes have enough fullness to create 'peaks and valleys' in their drape, thus being fully dimensional. By contrast a ready-made panel is often flat and tends to look a bit like a sheet.

How full should a drape be? Standard is 2.5-times. And what it means is that the drape, when laid on the workroom table flat, is actually 2.5 times wider than the finished width of the window. It is the folds of the pleats that take up that fabric width and ultimately bring the panel down to the desired finished width.

2. Lined All custom drapes are lined. And sometimes even interlined. There are different kinds of linings available: from thin and light batiste ' to heavy blackout bump. Why should you care? Well, there are two reasons for lining the drape: it protects the face fabric, thus extending its lifetime and adds weight and volume to the drape, thus making it look better. Quick hint: as you drive down your neighborhood next time, take a look at your neighbors' windows (ok, I admit it, I do it all the time!)' if you see white lining facing the window, they most likely have custom drapes.

3. Pleated Custom drapes have pleats. No but's or if's. It is the pleats that give that tailored, hand-made look. It is due to the pleats that the drape can retain its fullness. There are many different kinds of pleats available: from traditional and standard pinch, to a more updated and streamlined inverted box (refer to my earlier article about types of pleats).

4. Hemmed and weighted The standard for all custom drapes is a 2" double side hem and a 4" double bottom hem. All hems are also blind-stitched, so that the face fabric only shows small stitches (and not the row of machine stitching as a ready-made would). Finally, small square weights are added into the corners of the bottom hem, so to weigh it down and ensure proper drape. Why should I care, you might ask again? Because hems and weights all contribute to the better look, drape and hang of the panel.