How to Make Drapery Swag and Tails

Gracefully draping swags and tails give a rich look to draperies at a formal dining or living room. Tailored swags and tails are highly organized sewing projects that require cutting a template or functioning from commercially available patterns, but you can find the appearance with a more straightforward method that utilizes a single length of draped fabric. Like most of swag-and-tail structures, this system involves hanging the swag fabric from a pelmet, or cornice, board mounted over the window, allowing free movement of the principal draperies while the swags stay stationary.

Measure the width of the curtain track hardware and add 2-3 inches on each end for overhang. This will be the length of the pelmet board you create with one-by-four or one-by-six lumber. The board ought to be broad enough to stretch 1 to 2 inches away from the wall beyond the curtain and monitor. Cut a piece of timber to your span measurement, or have the provider cut it to you. Sand off any rough edges in the cut ends using medium-coarse sandpaper. Attach the hook side of hook-and-loop fastener tape along one short edge, a long border and the remaining border of the plank, using a staple gun or hot glue.

Install angle brackets to encourage the pelmet board over the curtain hardware. Use 2-inch brackets with a 4-inch board, or 3-inch brackets with a 6-inch board. Mark the center and end positions 2-3 inches over the curtain track. Drill holes in the marks corresponding with the screw holes in the brackets. Tap suitable wall anchors into the holes and secure the brackets with 1-inch screws. Mark and set up one to two additional brackets between the center and the finish brackets, spacing them evenly, as required, to encourage the pelmet board.

Purchase fabric yardage equal to the length of the pelmet board, and both side borders, plus 1/2 lawn. Straighten the fabric borders as required. Cut the fabric to the specific measurement equal to both short sides and also a long side of the pelmet board, and 1 inch. Set the remaining fabric aside.

Cut the fabric lengthwise so the width of the rectangle equals the drop you want to your swag, plus 1 inch. Fold, press and stitch a 1/2-inch hem on the long sides of the fabric piece. Fold, press and stitch a 1/2-inch hem on the sides. Attach the loop side of the hook-and-loop fastener tape as one of their long hems of the fabric piece. You can sew the fastener tape, or attach it with hot glue or fabric glue.

Cut a 4 1/2-inch-by-12-inch rectangle from the remaining fabric piece. Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise with the wrong side facing out. Machine-sew a 1/4-inch seam on the long open side. Turn the piece so the right side faces out, and press it to make a 2-inch-by-12-inch strap or swag holder. Repeat until you’ve made an additional swag holder than the number of swags you desire. For instance, if you want three swags across the window, then you may need four swag holders.

Staple the swag holders into the bottom of the pelmet board, spacing them them equally across the long edge of the board with the finish holders positioned about 1/2 inch in from the board’s corners. Attach about 2 inches of the fabric with a single staple close to the border of the board that has the fastener tape along with another staple holding the loose fabric 2 inches in from the edge of the plank.

Put the pelmet board to the angle brackets, positioning the board against the wall with the fastener tape facing out and the swag holder straps hanging down from the bottom of the board. Secure the board instead of driving 1/2-inch wood screws up through the holes in the flat section of the angle brackets and into the bottom of the wood.

Attach the hemmed fabric piece into the pelmet board by pressing the halves of the fastener tape together. Achieving under the fabric, take hold of a swag holder bend and bend it up and over to the peak of the pelmet board. Temporarily secure the strap with a pushpin. Repeat for all the swag holders. You may correct the fullness and depth of the swag curtain by using more or less tension on the strap when you pull it over the fabric.

Adjust the swag folds and repin the straps if required to find the result you desire. The fabric ends will probably hang down as butterfly-style tails at the surfaces of the swag valance. When you’re satisfied with the result, secure the straps set by stapling them in the peak of the board, and eliminate the push pins.