Fitting pencil pleat curtains onto corded track - DIY newbie!

lb00

Hi everyone,

I’ve just bought a Swish Ultrak Extendable corded track along with some pencil pleat curtains and I’m getting everything set up.

The track is installed, and I’ve got hooks plus some spare gliders just in case. My plan was to place a hook every fourth pocket. Each of my two curtains (left and right) has 54 pockets, meaning I’ll be using 14 hooks per curtain.

Now that I’m looking at the track, I see 10 gliders plus the masterslide, which has me wondering:

Should I place 10 hooks in the gliders and then attach the remaining 4 hooks all in the masterslide? I've attached a picture.

Or is there a better way to distribute them for the best look and function?

Any advice much appreciated as I am a total DIY newbie. Thanks so much!

MikeJXE

More or less yes but you need 1 more hook to anchor the curtain to the end of the rail 

lb00

MikeJXE said:

More or less yes but you need 1 more hook to anchor the curtain to the end of the rail 

This is what the end of the rail looks like.
Should I put two hooks in those two holes at the end of the rail as well?

Would you recommend everything evenly spaced every four pockets on the curtain?

Thanks so much!

MikeJXE

Yes definitely, 2 there on the stop and  4 on the slider, divide the pocket holes up as evenly as possible, the more the merrier, the more hooks on the curtain the better it will look but be wider when drawn back 

May be you need a female on here I'm a bloke 

TheGreenFrog

Will depend on length and weight of your curtain.   You could do trial and error - you can always buy and add more hooks.

twopenny

It's more of a pain than you think because usually curtains are quite heavy and you're reaching up.

But yes, 2 at the end and 4 in the middle and it looks like 10 in the middle.

The reason for extra hooks at each end is to make it look nice when they are drawn together - also the big one in the middle is the lead that pulls the rest.

Satisfying when it's done though

lb00

@twopenny @TheGreenFrog @MikeJXE

Thank you all very much for your replies.
My question is whether the hooks at the end and on the slider should also follow the once every fourth pocket rule... which I've heard is what you do for the gliders...
If I were to do that, as my curtain has 54 pockets I'd have to remove 2 gliders so that I have 14 hooks overall I guess - 2 at the end, 8 gliders, 4 on the slider

Does that make sense?
Thanks again!

MikeJXE

If you put them at the same spacing they will look tighter than the rest so the end and the slider need to be closer together 

I trust your curtains are wide enough 

Do your best, get them up then adjust to look good when drawn across the window 

lb00

MikeJXE said:

If you put them at the same spacing they will look tighter than the rest so the end and the slider need to be closer together 

I trust your curtains are wide enough 

Do your best, get them up then adjust to look good when drawn across the window 

I've made them 88cm wide as the rail is 174cm so just took that and halved it to compute the length i wanted... Does that make sense?
Thanks again, will give it a try tomorrow.

twopenny

I make it 16 holes.

6 are for effect and pulling.

The pockets in the curtains - 54 but minus the 6 you need to put hooks in beginning and end.

So 48 pockets.

Put hooks in as equally spaced apart as you can get them. So yes, every 4 or 5 pockets. You'll have to fiddle and it won't exactly match but you can always take them off and move them around if there's a bulge in the wrong place.

But with a deep pencil pleat the stiffness should hold them up straight so you won't notice that it's not exact.

I have some huge curtains on a pole with a draw cord and I got heartily fed up with that but you;d never notice that it wasn't exact. They hang perfectly straight top bottom and sides.

I meant to go back and redo but never did

Well done for getting stuck in. It's all about practise and can save you a fortune.

MikeJXE

lb00 said:

MikeJXE said:

If you put them at the same spacing they will look tighter than the rest so the end and the slider need to be closer together 

I trust your curtains are wide enough 

Do your best, get them up then adjust to look good when drawn across the window 

I've made them 88cm wide as the rail is 174cm so just took that and halved it to compute the length i wanted... Does that make sense?
Thanks again, will give it a try tomorrow.

Err no, 

Shouldn't curtains be 1 and a half width of the window each side ? 

Like I said I'm a bloke but I always had a woman watching me with a whip