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What is the magic word I can feed into google for this window covering?

 
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I was taught this was a curtain.

It's a sheer fabric that goes between the window and the drape.  It has a loop of cord on one side that is used to move the curtains across the window (open or closed).  It moves both the left and right curtains at the same time.

I've been messing around on Google for a couple of hours now and all I can find are curtains (or drapes) that are manually pulled by the human who has to go in front of the window and reach up and pull left one then go to the other side and pull the right one (or in the other order).

Do the ones with the side pully thingy not exist any more?  

(it could be they don't as most window dressings with cords are illegal here now - but I thought this one would be fine as it has a pully at the bottom that ankers it to the wall.)  

What are the magic words to find the thing I'm looking for?  
 
pollinator
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traverse curtains with pull cord?

traverse rods or curtains?
 
r ranson
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Ohhhh!  "Transverse" seems to be the magic word.  

I should have asked 2 hours ago - thank you!
 
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Try "Corded Curtain Tracks"

example here: https://www.polesandblinds.com/curtain-tracks/corded-curtain-tracks
Sorry - that's a commercial seller so it's a bit spammy.

I would search more for the "type of hardware" than what you actually plan to hang, as shears can be hung lots of different ways. There are ways to ensure that the cord isn't longer than needed - I have a book that has instructions on how to set them up in a balanced way. I'm not aware of them being banned, but I am aware that they aren't recommended near things like baby cribs!
 
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We were always told it was called a glass curtain because a person could see thru it though folks outside could not see in.
 
r ranson
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Wow, they are more expensive than I had hoped (but less than I expected).

The next questions are - should they be
a) the same width as the window (so they cover the window a bit when open)
b) much wider than the window so that they don't cover the window when open?
c) something better you'll tell me about in a moment.  
 
Jay Angler
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Considering how dark it is in the winter where I am, I vote for option B. Just because they *can* go wider, doesn't mean that you have to open them that wide when you don't want or need the natural light.
Also, if you house isn't well insulated, the extra width helps to keep the cold window from infecting the rest of the room.

The downside is that fabric is expensive to buy and time consuming to make. Nice curtains, again in my eyes, use at least twice the finished width + seam allowances, and sometimes more depending on the style. If you're sewing a pattern, you have to allow extra to match the pattern.  
 
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If you want to have the option of a lot of sun, make them wider.
And I don't know about your part of the world, but around here they are no longer stylish, and are all over in the thrift stores. People are putting up heavy wooden rods with rings, apparently that's what's in now.  
 
r ranson
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The wooden rod isn't friendly for those in the house with mobility issues.

Too frequent power outages for electric plus costs a lot.

String up one end is the best.

Thrift shop is a good idea.  The local shop has a sale on bedding and drapes this month.
 
pollinator
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They aren’t hard to make once you understand what’s going on, you can add them to any rod that slides easy enough. A cord, four pulleys, and a spring or weight. Plus screws and junk drawer odds and ends.
 
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My pursuit of an interior decorator diploma taught me to call them 'transverse sheers'(even if they weren't all that sheer). You can easily make them, yourself. But, if you want the side pull, you'll need the bar with little slotted tabs. Then the hooks hang in the tabs. They don't need to be as heavily gathered as the drapes - and I'd probably not go more that 25 - 50% wider than the window. They can be made of nearly any lightweight fabric.
 
r ranson
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awesome advise.

The current ones were installed in the early 1960s and are starting to look a bit aged.  They also cover 10" of the window either side when open.

I'm hoping to replace them with a two layer drape thingy.  The window is new and as good as they can get, but windows that size lose a lot of heat.  And let in a lot of heat in the summer.  
 
r ranson
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New question - is there some magic formula to determine how long to get the track so the drapes don't cover the window when open?
 
Carla Burke
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That one is a bit tougher, because it kinda depends on the thickness of the fabrics used for the drapes. You can, however, lay the fabric on a flat surface, gather it the way you'd like to see it gathered, hung up, and measure that width to the width of the window.
 
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okay, finding panels for this kind of curtain is difficult.  Most of them are those ones with big metal rings in the top that fit on a wooden rod.  Some of them have a hidden pocket at the back to fit over a wooden rod.  I can't find any (in my price range) that are designed for a traverse curtain set up.

The more I look at curtains, the less I want to sew them.  It looks like the fabric to sew them is about twice as expensive as the pre-hemmed panels.  

So... what's the path forward here?  can I convert blinds made for a stick to go on a string pull?

The more I try to understand modern window coverings, the less I want to live in the modern world.  
 
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This is precisely why those rings have become so popular. Cafe curtains(sometimes tied, sometimes with sewn tabs, sometimes the rings) and rod-pocket curtains are far easier and cost effective to make (and hang!) for both the home sewer and the factories, than the ones with the hooks.

Sadly, I've no clue about converting the blinds. I do know that horizontal blinds - including Roman blinds and rolled blinds - used to be quite common, behind curtains, and are operated with a side pull.
 
Jay Angler
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r ranson wrote:  It looks like the fabric to sew them is about twice as expensive as the pre-hemmed panels.  

 Isn't that disgusting? That wasn't true when fabric was being made in mills in our country, but now that they're mostly in foreign lands, it forces compromises.

And wrote:

Some of them have a hidden pocket at the back to fit over a wooden rod.  

What sort of fabric are you looking for? I have used nice, 100% cotton bedsheets to make curtains out of in the past. I'm also not beyond buying a pre-made panel if I like it and then either simply pleating the existing pocket since most pleated tops have some sort of reinforcement layer anyway, or unpicking the existing pocket so that I can make the top "hem" the width I want.

Usually, you buy special hooks to use with curtains that hang on transverse rods. Those hooks come in different lengths and styles depending on whether you want the top of the curtain to be a bit above the transverse rod, or at the exact height of it, and they can be bought to use something called "curtain hook tape", which is good if you want to be able to launder the drapes.


There are lots of tutorials on the web about how to make simple permanent pleats.

So if I was setting out to do this, I'd consider what I wanted the drape to be made of, and what is the cheapest way to acquire a sufficient quantity of that material. A wool blanket with a cotton sheet liner? A commercial panel that I then resew to meet the size and pleat style I want? What happens to be on sale because I just want fast and easy? (Not usually my first choice, but if the price is too good to resist, I might just go there.)

Did you ever make the project you were considering here: https://permies.com/t/141456/permaculture/Curtains-ll-weave
 
r ranson
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A heads up on the curtain struggle.

I took the old ones down - they are hand sewing (100%) and I think looking at this and that, original to the house.  From the dust on the curtains, I'm not sure they have been washed in the 50+ years of hanging there, so I gave it a try in the machine on delicate.

And again because still a lot grime from the dust.

Things are improving.  I think I might give them one more go with some blueing in the final rinse and see what happens.  

If they can be refreshed with that little effort, it's going to save so much bother trying to find replacements for such a large window.  The only downside is the 10" overlap they have with the window on each side.
 
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You could mount them on a longer rod, that would move the "stack" farther away from the window, when open.
 
r ranson
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Instead of buying new curtains,  we discovered this awesome bit of technology called a curtain hook.

It greatly increases the amount of light as we no longer have the 10 inch of curtains overlapping the window on each side.
Curtain-hook.jpg
Curtain hook
Curtain hook
 
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What a sharp looking fix! I really dig it.
 
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