Swags and Tails
Including Venetian Windows
 The Curtain Design Directory, page 153
© Copyright Merrick & Day

DESIGN BENEFITS

• A sumptuous and impressive window treatment
• Can be formal or deliberately casual
• Surprisingly versatile
• Easily adapted for different widths of windows in the same room

Swags and tails are the ultimate way to dress a window, creating a grand treatment that is suitable for formal rooms. They look sophisticated when made up in rich fabrics and trimmed with fringe. However, untrimmed swags and tails look much simpler and can be used for informal settings, even kitchens and bathrooms.

Generally speaking, the wider the window the more swags there are in a design. Where there are windows of dissimilar widths in the same room, a narrow window could have one-swag design and a wide window could have a three-swag design.

Most swags and tails are fitted onto a pelmet board. They are arranged to give the illusion of continuous drapery although each element is made up and fitted separately. On a pelmet board swags can either be overlapped or butted together. Good pattern cutting is the key in a swag treatment, as even swags draped over a pole require the fabric to be formally shaped with all the components fitted individually When curtains are hung behind swags and tails draped over a pole, the curtains are hung from a track which is fitted behind and below the pole.

For informal drapery where swags and tails are casually wrapped around a pole, the swags and tails are made up from individually-cut basic shapes which are seamed together into a length of fabric and then draped over the pole in situ.

The side tails finish off swags and add length and elegance to the window treatment. As the reverse sides of the tails are visible they should be lined, either in the main fabric or in a contrasting fabric. The diagonal hemlines of the tails usually start level with the base of the swag, but in a few cases these diagonal hemlines start well below the swag. Tails can either be straight, tapered or cone-shaped.

Swagged valances are a pretty soft swag treatment which can be trimmed with frills or fringes along the lower edge. The swags are made up into a continuous valance with trumpets at the intersections of the swags and at the end of the valance. The trumpets can be contrast lined to draw attention to the pretty scalloped lower edge.

Proportions
The success of the swag treatment lies in the use of pleasing proportions. To achieve a balanced look, swags and swagged valances should be 1/5th of the top of the pelmet board to floor measurement at their deepest point. The tails should be either two or three times the length of the swags. To mock-up the position and depth of swags put a length of chain against the window to form arcs of the swags and outline the proposed design. On a historic note, 18th century proportions would be shallower than above. 19th century proportions would be deeper.

Fitting swags and tails
Swags and tails and swagged valances are usually finished at the top with a fabric binding. The binding can either be tacked or stapled onto the pelmet board or pole or can be attached with Velcro.

If possible, the pelmet board or pole should be placed up to the coving in order to heighten the window treatment and to avoid an unattractive gap between the top of the swag treatment and the coving.

Check that the proposed depth of the swags will cover the soffit or architrave at the top of the window and if necessary adjust the height of the pelmet board or pole.

For swags draped over a pole with curtains set behind, the pole brackets are mounted onto 8cm (3in) wood blocks and the curtain track is fixed to the wall. Alternatively, the pole is fixed with small brackets to the front of an 8cm (3in) pelmet board leaving a gap between the pole and the board. The curtain track is then secured to the underside of the pelmet board in the usual manner.

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