Why will my curtains not draw back fully?

6 years ago

I’ve had double pinch pleat curtains with a blackout lining made for my bedroom, but they will not draw back fully, they almost cover half the window. The maker said it was the buckram causing them to bounce out and suggested tie backs. I never wanted tiebacks and feel that I should not be having to solve this problem. She says they would have been fine with a corded rail but we didn’t want one and it will cost another £130 plus another £80 fitting costs. Has anyone else had this problem with buckram ?

Cheers.

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Comments (8)

Daisy England
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Do you have too much fabric in them to enable them to be pulled right back?
Nancy Wright
Original Author
6 years ago
Hi, thanks for your reply. Basically no. They just seem to ‘bounce’ back along and she said it was because of the buckram being stiff.
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embzop
6 years ago
I have a similar issue with curtains I had made. It bothered me when I first got them but I got used to the look. They are in the bedroom so it doesn't really matter to me that they don't pull back completely because the room is only used late evening and night. Also, I love the fabric I chose and this way, I get to see more of it.

If it did bother me, I would choose very loose tie backs that gently hold the curtains in a vertical line close to the window edge.
Nancy Wright
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for that. It does bother me because it is a big French window looking over our garden. She says that the rail will eventually stiffen up but when is that going to happen? I also think that tiebacks will crease the fabric. Did your curtains even loosen up and pull back further?
embzop
6 years ago
My curtains may have loosened up a little but not much, however, they are window sill length and maybe floor length curtains will have more weight that helps the curtain drop more.
kikiamack
6 years ago
There could be a few reasons this might happen. Perhaps a too stiff grade of buckram was used? Is there enough pole at the side of the window to pull the curtain back on to? You could try pulling the curtains back, carefully folding so that there aren’t oddly placed creases. Then restrain the curtains at 3 or so places along their length (height whilst hanging) using, for example, some stiff paper or clean bin bags taped around the fabric. Be careful not to crush the fabric. Leave them like this for 2 or 3 days. This might train the curtains to pull back a bit further when unrestrained. I had some double pleat curtains from Laura Ashley years ago and didn’t have this problem, so it might be worth popping into one of their stores to see if you can see whether the construction of their curtains is different to yours so you can follow up with your curtain maker if necessary.
Nancy Wright
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks very much everyone - I’ve spoken to the maker and she has agreed to fit a corded track ,which she assures me will pull them back, and will only charge me for one track and no more fitting costs. I’ll know what to look out for next time!
PRO
User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
We have just had exactly the same problem. Turns out it's the track at our house. We didn't comprehend that the Pinch pleats needed so much room to fold BENEATH the rail, not covering the rail. We have our lounge ones on a pole, and of course, hanging beneath it, they have plenty of room to fold. Like this:-
As you see from point of hook back to the wall is quite some distance.

These are the ones that we tried to hang on the track in the conservatory:-
They wouldn't fold at all as there was no room for the buckram to go backwards.
Thus we are having a new track on extension brackets ( old track no good for this ), plus they still have to hang below it, or they will have the same problem. It's really annoying that we're going to see the track as we don't want to, but we don't have a choice! Lovely curtains though!

Why will my curtains not draw back fully?

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Daisy England

Nancy Wright
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Why will my curtains not draw back fully?

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Daisy England

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embzop

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