different types of curtain tops

kunekune

We recently moved to a new house. The living room has a curtain pole with some tab top curtains fitted. We don't like them very much and find it hard to close them without standing on the sofa. I would quite like to use the curtains I brought with me from the old house but they have a tape top. Without (a) altering the curtains to make them tab top or (b) replacing the curtain pole (and our walls are VERY difficult to drill into), is it possible to get a fitting that will allow me to hang my curtains on this rail? And if I need to alter the curtains, how difficult would it be? They are far too long, so there is plenty of fabric to play with.

TIA.

ragz_2

We have curtain rings with little metal loops at the bottom that the hooks for tape top curtains go on (IYSWIM). maybe you could find some of those?

EDIT - Not sure I explained that well! There's the rings, then an S shaped hook, then the normal curtain hooks go through these and attach to the curtain.

rosieben

could you get some large curtain rings to fit the pole - like this but cheaper! - then the curtains would hang from the rings with normal swish hooks?

my dd had tab top curtains with sort of bulldog clip hooks; they looked lovely but were difficult to draw as you say, and if you pulled too hard the curtain came out of the clip :rolleyes:

sorry cross-posted with ragz

kunekune

Yes, that's what I need! They are really nice curtains that we brought with us, and I was quite sad that I couldn't use them. Cool ...

rosekitten

we got these curtain rails and rings in
IKEA they sell the rings in packs on
their own each one has a little clip
bit like a bull dog clip I have my
regular curtains on these in the
sittingroom.

CLICK ON PIC TO ENLARGE

skiTTish

Can you not thread the pole through the heading tape ? ,we did that with some curtains once ,works fine so long as its a deep ape and the pole isnt too thick

whatatwit

To make them easier to open and close.....attach a pole/bamboo cane to the end of (the bit where they meet) each curtain.
Then as you pull or push the pole, the curtain slides along,

kunekune

Good ideas, if I actually liked plain cream curtains. But my real ones, so to speak, are much nicer. We popped into homebase on the way to pick up the kids from after school club, and the next stage is to do some measuring and get these curtains the right length. I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said they are probably nearly a metre too long!!!!! The old room had a curtain rail at a high ceiling height, so I got the longest curtains you can get.

maman

I like my curtains 'pooling' on the floor but I think a metre is perhaps going too far! Just decide on the finished length you want and cut them about 8cm longer then just turn up the hems or use wunderweb if sewing isn't your strong point. You don't say if you've ever washed them. Some curtains shrink a bit when washed so I'd do that before cutting them.

kunekune

Well, that was fun. The pole could not be lifted off its brackets, due to a bizarre combination of different screws, many old and lacking in traction. OH managed to slide the old curtain off around the brackets and did the same with the hoops. Our curtains now look splendid though, easy to draw and open and much less boring. I haven't shortened them yet, because I'm thinking about the right length. I think I'll take them down next weekend and remove about 50cm - long seems to work even though the ones we took off were short. I do have some iron on hemming stuff but am fairly handy with a needle anyway (in my youth I made curtains and even loose covers).

Thanks for the help in working out how to do it - for the price of 36 metal hoops we are stylish again.