Having custom made curtains are a good choice if you can't find curtains you like when shopping in a store or online, as custom curtains can be made with a specific fabric, and to a size that would work for your home's windows in particular. When you are ready to meet with a custom curtain maker, you might first note some terms that you'll come across, so you can better communicate the style of curtain you want, and more easily understand what that curtain maker is describing to you.
Header, heading
A curtain header or heading refers to how the curtain material is designed at the top, where it accommodates the curtain rod. This header might include grommets, which are large rings that are around holes cut right into the curtain fabric. Grommets might be metal or wood, or another such material.
Curtain headings might also be pleats, which are areas of material pinched in the front, with a pocket sewn behind the pleats for the curtain rod. A pocket curtain heading has the top of the curtain material folded over and sewn to the fabric, to create a pocket for the rod. Each of these heading styles will affect the look of the curtains, as well as how easily they can be moved over the rod.
Facing
A facing is extra fabric that is used to strengthen areas of curtains; facing might be added under grommets, or along the edge of curtains that you will be tying back, so that these edges don't get threadbare and worn. It's important to know if your custom curtains will need any type of facing, as this will require some extra lengths of fabric, which might then increase the cost of the curtains.
One-way draw
A one-way draw curtain is one curtain panel that is meant to be pulled or tied back to just one side of a window. These types of curtains can be used for small windows, where two separate panels might overwhelm the window itself.
Valance
A valance is a short curtain along the top of the window, and which is often paired with standard curtain panels. A valance might also be put over a short cafe curtain, which is a curtain that sits inside a window frame, near the bottom. A valance can be very simple, perhaps just a bit of matching curtain fabric, or it can be curved, layered, pleated, or otherwise cut and shaped to look very dramatic.
