How to Choose Fabric for Custom Curtains

Making your own curtains lets you choose a print you love and a fabric that hangs the way you want. Before ordering, consider whether the panels will frame the window or close across it, how much light you want to filter and whether you plan to add a lining.

In the room shown here, Love Birds by Blair Lambert carries the pattern. Warm wood, neutral upholstery and natural textures give the birds and foliage room to stand out. It is a useful example of building a room around one fabric rather than trying to coordinate several competing prints.

Choose the Drape and Texture

Picture the curtains hanging at the window. Do you want soft, relaxed folds or a more tailored shape? The fabric’s weight and flexibility matter, but so do the lining, heading and amount of fullness.

Cotton Linen 90/10 is a good starting point for decorative curtains when you want subtle woven texture. Compare it with Linen Cotton 55/45 for a different balance of cotton and linen, or Cotton Sateen if you prefer a smoother surface. Our linen bases offer further options for texture and weight.

A heavier fabric does not automatically make a better curtain. Choose the base that suits the construction and the look you want, and check that your rod and hardware can support the combined weight of the fabric and lining.

Compare Our Base Fabrics
Review fiber content, weight, printable width, care and recommended uses.

Look at the Pattern Across a Whole Window

A small print may read almost like texture from across the room. A larger motif remains more noticeable, although folds will conceal parts of it. Think about how the design will look both drawn closed and gathered at the sides.

Love Birds brings recognizable birds and foliage into the room. With a print like this, consider where the main motifs will fall near the heading and along the leading edges of the panels.

If you are still choosing a design, browse botanical fabrics for leaves and branches, small florals for a quieter pattern, or stripes and geometrics for a more structured look.

Check the stated repeat dimensions rather than judging scale from a screen image alone. You can mark the approximate size of a motif on paper and hold it near the window to get a better sense of its presence in the room.

Decide What the Lining Needs to Do

Lining can add body, improve privacy and reduce light passing through the decorative fabric. The result depends on the lining you choose; an ordinary lining does not necessarily provide blackout performance.

For a bedroom, consider a lining intended for the level of light control you need. For living-room panels that mainly frame the window, a lighter lining may be sufficient. Unlined curtains are another option when a lighter appearance matters more than privacy.

Privacy also changes with lighting. A fabric that feels private during the day may reveal silhouettes when the room is lit at night. Consider the complete curtain assembly rather than relying on the face fabric alone.

Follow your curtain pattern or heading-system instructions for lining construction. Check that the care requirements of the face fabric and lining are compatible.

Measure for Fullness Before Calculating Yardage

Measure the installed rod or track and decide where the finished curtains should begin and end. The width of the glass alone will not tell you how much fabric you need.

Curtains usually require additional width to form folds. The amount depends on the heading: pleated curtains, gathered headings and other systems use fabric differently. Follow the fullness guidance for your chosen construction rather than applying one formula to every style.

Fullness affects the pattern, too. Closely gathered fabric shows less of the artwork at once. Decorative side panels may need a different layout from curtains intended to close fully across the window.

Allow for Seams and Pattern Matching

Use the base fabric’s printable width when planning your panels. Side hems and joins reduce the usable finished width, and wider curtains may require more than one fabric width per panel.

Before ordering, account for:

• The number of fabric widths required for your chosen fullness.
• The finished drop, heading allowance and lower hem.
• The vertical repeat needed to align the tops of paired panels.
• The horizontal repeat and any half-drop arrangement when joining widths.
• Print direction and the placement of prominent motifs.
• Additional length needed to begin each cut at the intended point in the design.

For a pair of curtains, starting both panels at the same point in the repeat can help them relate visually. When joining widths, check the match along the seam as well as across the tops.

A large repeat can add substantially to the yardage. If someone else is making the curtains, have them confirm the cutting plan and quantity before you order.

Compare the Fabrics in Person

Our Ground Fabric Swatch Kit contains small samples of the available base fabrics. Use them to compare surface texture, weight, softness and flexibility beside the other materials in your room.

A small swatch helps narrow the choice, but it cannot show exactly how several yards will hang or how a particular printed design will look. The kit is for comparing the base textiles, not proofing a selected pattern or colorway.

Once you have chosen a base, review its printable width and care instructions on Our Fabrics, then confirm the yardage against your construction plan.

Give the Curtains Room to Be the Pattern

If your chosen fabric has plenty of detail, the rest of the room can stay simple. Solid upholstery, wood furniture and a woven rug can be enough. You might repeat one color from the curtains in a cushion or small accessory without adding another large pattern.

Choose the print, fabric and construction together. That way, the curtains can do what you need at the window while bringing something you enjoy into the room.

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