How to hang curtains on traverse rod

[micky]

I have a traverse rod in my bedroom. The string has broken and the curtains are frayed, but to buy pre-made replacement curtains seems hard.

First, I can't tell what size they are selling. Some say in parens, (2 Panels, 52 inches Wide by 63 inches Long). So is each panel 52 inches wide or the two together? It would have been so easy to include the word "total" or "each", but they don't.

Second, my curtain rod has 2 big things that meet in the middle when you pull the cord and draw the curtain shut, and little things with holes that follow behind the big things I have curtain hooks that hook into the holes and the curtain clips to the hooks, which have four up-pointing prongs. That was the standard method for nice curatains in

1950 and still in 1983.

But now most of them for sale on Amazon are Back Tab -- Amazon says these shouldn't be opened or closed often Grommet -- the curtain zig zags in front of and behind the rod, as the rod goes through the grommets. Rod Pocket -- the whole rod goes through a tube in the curtain, so the curtain won't open or shut or Tab Top -- are these like back tab?

Some are Goblet Pleat Pencil Pleat Ripple Fold Tie Top or Versatile Pleat I don't know what these 5 are.

I think what I've been using is Pinch Pleat Is that right?

I'm willing to buy new curtain hooks if any of these other styles for the top will continue to hide the rod and will hang from the little holes. Or must I limit myself to Pinch Pleat??

Extra credit given to anyone who reads the background: When I moved in here, the bachelor I bought it from had 4 prefab curtains that reached to the floor even the window didn't go below 3.5 feet, And iirc he just had them nailed up, and they weren't wide enough to meet in the middle. I had found in the trash a beautiful brown wood grain traverse rod that was long enough for my 98"w windows. I cut 1/3 off each of his curtains, sewed the four pieces into 2 new 2/3rds-length curtains, so now I had 6 and I sewed two sets of three together side by side. Then I took the cord, made a pully on the bottom right corner and used the commericial pully with a spring on the left so that the cord ran right under the entire window, and I could reach back from my bed and open or close the curtain while barely moving. Worked well for 35 years, but the cord broke a couple years ago. And the bottom of the curatins are raggedy, plus there are what look like mud-dawber nests in the folds, which is very strange since I never saw any such insects in my bedroom. I don't use screens and there were firefliesm, and little things, and one year stink bugs, but now wasps. Yet there are at least

2 feet of nests (in 4 parts.)

I want to do as little sewing as possible this time, but I can't find anything 98" wide, let alone pinch pleat.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Here's something in the "About this item" for a random pair of drapes on Amazon:

"MEASUREMENT: Sold per panel. It has been pleated. For proper fullness, panels should measure 1-1.2 times the width of your curtain track or pole width. If you cover window 120" wide, you should choose 2 panels of

72"( 2 * 72"=144"). "

Read the fine print. Don't just stop at the description.

But fashion has moved on. What you have is considered "too old for grandma".

Google? Here are most of those:

You don't want ripple fold (doesn't use hooks), tie top (simply ties on the top of a non-traverse rod), or versaile pleat (you have to figure out how to form the pleats yourself).

Yes.

Goblet pleat might work for you. It looks a little different, but should cover the rod if you insert the hooks low enough.

You get a big old eyeroll for that. Use screens. Why make yourself a feast for mosquitos?

Most people would go to a drapery store or have them custom made. Or get rid of grandma's traverse rods.

You'll certainly have to buy a couple of sets for a DIY effort.

[Retirednoguilt]

I won't even try to deal with the question of pleat type vs hooks. However, for the issue of hanging shorter panels on a wide traverse rod, I do have a little experience. I've used multiple shorter panels without sewing the edges by overlapping by one or two eyelet rollers where the edge hooks on adjacent panels are attached to the traverse rod. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Worth a try to see if it works for you and if it is cosmetically acceptable. As far as a broken cord, you can probably buy long lengths of replacement cords either at a big box hardware store or at a chain crafts store such as Micheal's.

And, especially with climate change, there are more and more cases of serious insect borne diseases in areas where those diseases haven't been known to be a problem in the past. Ticks and mosquitos have been the carriers of most of these. The diseases can be caused by viruses, bacteria, or parasites and can produce life threatening infections even if recognized early and treated properly. GET SCREENS!! Your out of pocket cost to treat one serious infection (not even considering health risk) is likely to be similar or even more than the cost of installing screens.

[Leonard Blaisdell]

I recently went through the drapes dilemna on a sliding door. My wife took care of it. If you think you need two panels, you need four. She used rings with clips on the rod, and we ditched the pulley. I now drag two panels to the middle and adjust the other two if necessary. Just make sure the drapes are roughly the right length. Shorter is better than longer. Use velcro with a sticky back to join two curtains together if you want. The curtains and hanging equipment cost roughly eighty bucks from Amazon, and the covering area is roughly eight feet long by seven feet high. They're not high-dollar drapes, but effective. My wife should have posted what she did, not me.

I agree. For many years, I left my curtains open without a screen. We don't get too many mosquitoes or flies, but I occasionally saw skinny black bugs on my ceiling. I finally did a little research, and they're kissing bugs. You don't want those. Creepy doesn't even describe them.