Goblet pleat curtains are great window treatment ideas

Curtain Ideas With pictures » Goblet pleat curtains

Goblet pleat curtains are a really classic way to dress your window and were common as victorian window treatments. So why are they called "goblet pleat"

well it's because of the shape sewn into the curtain header it's like a small Wine goblet glass. The curtains in the image lower down are made with a buckram header( a 5 or 6 inch wide strip of cardboard like fabric). This makes the top of the curtain rigid allowing the goblets to keep their shape.

These are drapery window treatments that have a stiffener (called buckram as the picture left) that is sewn in to the top of the curtain panel. Then it has either two or three pleats folded into the top of the curtain.

Then sewn together with usually a five inch space before the next curtain pleat is formed and sewn into place again. This is repeated right the way across the curtain panel.

This creates a beautiful decorative effect on the top of the Goblet pleat curtains. However a very important point to mention is that this style of window treatment is not adjustable. They are made to fit your windows exactly. So you can't move them onto wider windows in the future. Also because they are custom made curtains they are obviously more expensive than ready made draperies, some times a lot more.

So you will need to fit a wider rod than usual to be able to draw them off the window more. Usually I recommend you fit a decorative curtain rod that is about 5 to 6 inches wider than your window on both sides. For goblet pleated drapes I recommend you allow 8 to 10 inches extra each side of your windows when measuring for curtains.

On very wide windows I have been known to allow up to 12 to 15 inches each side.

How to hang curtains like these?

When it comes to goblet pleated curtains you will need what are called pin hooks to hang them with. These are zinc metal curtain hooks that pierce the fabric and the buckram at the top of the back of the curtain panel.

You have to push a hook in right next to each pleat being careful not to push the pin of the hook right through to the front of your pinch pleat drapes. In most cases when fitted the top of the pin hook should be about a 1/4 inch down from the top of the curtain. Then when you hang your curtains from the curtain rings they then hang from under the rod as in the picture below.

This is the right way for this style of curtain to hang. Don't put the pin hook lower in the curtain heading otherwise the curtain will hang in front of the rod. This just makes the goblet pleat curtains look scruffy also they won't open and close smoothly as the goblets won't stack back properly.

Below is a picture of these goblet pleated draperies I hung from a large wood curtain rod with silver curtain rings and large decorative curtain rod finials on each end.

The other option as in the window treatment picture above is to use tie backs to pull the curtains back. Notice how the curtains are extra long and drape onto the floor giving a luxurious look (usually an extra 2 to 4 inches).

No I did'nt measure these curtains wrong it was deliberate :-)

These curtain styles can have the look of modern curtains when made with contemporary window treatment fabrics and designer curtain rods like these above.

In the window treatment image of the goblet pleat curtains you can't see the goblets pleats clearly so I have put another close up image just here for you. I think you will agree that these are really intersting ideas for window treatments.

While your here if your not so good at sewing window treatments yourself. Then why not find out how much it would cost to get some custom made window treatments for your windows.

This picture above shows a pair of beatiful goblet pleat curtains made in silk drapery fabric. The thing that makes truly unique window treatment ideas are often the window treatments hardware.

In this window treatment picture the curtains are draped beautifully into antique brass curtain hold back arms (not easy to see, but they look great).

Then the curtains are hung from a gilt painted window treatment cornice. This was found at an antiques fair for very little. The paint needed touching up in a few places, but I'm sure you'll agree it was well worth the little extra efffort.