Eyelet Curtains, Made to Measure

The look of an eyelet curtain is decided at the cutting table. Rings are placed at even centres across the heading, always in even numbers so both outer edges finish with a fold returning to the wall. Closer spacing gives smaller, tighter folds; wider spacing gives deep, generous tubes. We set it according to the fabric weight and the depth of pole bracket, so the folds do not hit the wall or the glass.

Fullness — how much fabric goes into each curtain against the width it covers — matters as much as spacing. Too little and the curtain looks flat and stretched, with the rings visibly pulling the fabric. Too much and the stack becomes bulky. Eyelets generally need slightly less fullness than a gathered heading but more than many ready-made pairs provide.

The pole is half the look, so it has to suit the room as well as the load. The ring's inner diameter must be comfortably larger than the pole, or the curtain will drag and judder; we always size the two together rather than buying the rings first. Long spans need a centre bracket, and because eyelets cannot pass a bracket, the curtain on each side stops there — fine for a pair of curtains, a problem for a single panel that must travel the whole width.

Near the sea the pole and rings should be the same family of material. Stainless rings on a plated pole will not save the pole, and a rusting pole will mark the rings and then the fabric. Anodised aluminium and powder-coated poles keep their finish best in salt air; timber poles work well indoors but need sealing ends in damp rooms. The curtain rod and track planner on this page helps you work out how far the pole should run past the window.

The stiffening inside the heading is what keeps an eyelet curtain upright. In a humid monsoon a soft, fusible interfacing can relax, and the heading starts to fold over between the rings. We use a firmer, humidity-tolerant stiffener and stitch it in rather than relying on glue alone, so the band keeps its shape through the wettest months.

Corrosion is the other monsoon risk. Moisture plus salt finds any cut edge or scratch in a plated ring, and rust then wicks into the fabric around it. Once the stain is there it rarely washes out completely. Choosing the right ring at the start costs nothing in the look and avoids replacing a curtain in a year's time.

Because the fabric hangs below the pole, the bracket height sets where the curtain begins. Mounting the pole well above the window frame makes the room feel taller and hides the head of the frame behind the folds; mounting it tight to the frame shortens the window visually. In houses with high ceilings we often fix the pole close to the cornice and let the curtain fall the full height.

We cut the drop to clear the floor by a small margin. A curtain that pools on tiles looks generous in a magazine but wicks up water when the floor is mopped and picks up damp in the monsoon. Measuring at several points across the window matters in older houses, where floors are rarely level.

A single eyelet curtain is either open or closed. To get soft daytime light as well as evening privacy, add a second layer: a sheer on its own pole closer to the glass, or a blind inside the window reveal. Double pole brackets carry both, provided the brackets project far enough for the two sets of rings to pass without catching.

Where privacy and darkness are the main brief, our layered curtains page explains the sheer-plus-blackout system in depth. For an eyelet room, the simplest pairing is often a roller or zebra blind in the reveal doing the functional work and the eyelet curtain framing the window.