Curtain heading types compared

Curtain headings differ in how they form their folds and in how much cloth that costs. A pencil pleat is drawn up by a corded tape and needs 2× fullness as a floor; an eyelet lets the pole form the folds and works from 1.8×; a tab top is flattest at 1.5×. The heading also fixes the allowance added above the finished drop, from 12 cm for a tab top to 25 cm for an eyelet band — so the style changes both dimensions of every cut, not just the width.

The five headings, side by side

A heading is how the top of a curtain is made and how it attaches to the pole or track. It decides three things at once: how the folds form, how much width the curtain needs to form them, and how much extra length has to be added above the finished drop.

These are the middle of the UK curtain-making range rather than a universal standard. Every one of them is an editable input in the calculators, and a workroom may quote different figures — a deeper hem on a long drop so the curtain can be let down later, or a shallower header on a lightweight cloth. Where your maker gives you numbers, use theirs.

What each one is, and why it needs what it needs

Pencil pleat

Drawn up by a corded tape into narrow, even folds. The tape does the gathering rather than the pole, so it wants more cloth than any other common heading.

Pinch pleat

Folds sewn into fixed groups of two or three and pinched at the base, so the pleats stay where they were put. Formal, and cheaper in cloth than a pencil pleat.

Eyelet

Metal rings punched through a stiffened band, threaded straight onto a pole. The pole forms the folds instead of a tape, which is why it needs less fullness — but the band is deep, so it takes the most at the top.

Tab top

Loops of the same cloth passed over a pole. The flattest heading here: the fabric hangs almost straight, so it needs the least of everything.

Wave

A corded tape at fixed spacing on a track made for it, giving one continuous even S from end to end. It only works on that track — an ordinary one will not hold the spacing.

What the choice costs on one window

The table below runs all five headings against the same window — a 250 cm track, a 220 cm finished drop, a pair of curtains — at each heading's recommended fullness. Both dimensions move, and they do not move together.

Pencil pleat takes the most cloth across at 625 cm of flat width, and Tab top the least at 450 cm — a difference of 175 cm on this window, which on a 140 cm cloth is more than a whole extra width. Down the roll the ranking is different: the eyelet band takes 25 cm above the finished drop where a tab top takes 12, so the heading that saves width can spend it again in length.

Neither figure is the one you buy. Cloth is bought in whole widths, so what matters is whether the flat width crosses a threshold — and on a patterned fabric the cut length is then rounded up to whole pattern repeats, which can wipe out a heading's saving entirely. The curtain fabric calculator takes both steps in order and shows each one.

Choosing between them

By look. Pencil pleat and wave are soft and continuous; pinch pleat is formal and architectural, with the folds fixed where they were sewn; eyelet is contemporary and reads as a series of even waves down the pole; tab top is casual and almost flat.

By cloth. A heavy interlined fabric wants a heading that can carry the weight — pinch pleat or pencil pleat on a substantial tape. A light cotton at a small window is fine on a tab top and looks starved on a pencil pleat drawn up to 2.5×.

By hardware. This is the constraint that decides for you. Eyelet needs a pole rather than a track, because the rings thread straight over it. Wave needs its own track: the corded tape holds a fixed spacing that an ordinary track will not maintain, and on the wrong track the folds collapse into an uneven gather. If the track is already fitted and is not a wave track, a pencil pleat at 2.2–2.5× is the closest available look.

By what the window will take. Above about a 2.5 m track the fullness question stops being aesthetic and starts being arithmetic. To see how many widths each choice actually needs, and what fullness whole widths really deliver, use the curtain fullness calculator. For the sizes sold ready-made and what they gather to on a given track, see standard curtain sizes.

Common questions

Which curtain heading uses the least fabric?

Tab top, on both dimensions. It needs the least fullness of any common heading — about 1.5× against a pencil pleat’s 2× — and takes the smallest allowance above the finished drop at around 12 cm. The trade-off is that it hangs almost flat, which suits a light cotton at a small window and looks thin on a large one.

Why does an eyelet heading need the deepest allowance?

Because the rings are punched through a stiffened band that has to be deep enough to hold them and to fold over itself. Around 25 cm above the finished drop is normal. That is the most of any heading here, even though eyelet needs less width than a pencil pleat — the two allowances pull in opposite directions.

Can I use a wave heading on an ordinary track?

No. Wave depends on a corded tape at fixed spacing running on a track built to hold that spacing. On an ordinary track the folds collapse into an uneven gather and the effect is lost. If the track is already fitted and is not a wave track, a pencil pleat at 2.2–2.5× is the closest look available.

Are these allowances fixed?

No, they are the middle of the UK curtain-making range and every one is an editable input in the calculators. A workroom may use a deeper hem on a long drop so the curtain can be let down later, or a shallower header on a lightweight cloth. Where your maker quotes different figures, use theirs.

Related tools

Curtain fabric calculator

Track width, drop, fullness and pattern repeat in; metres or yards to buy out, with every allowance adjustable.

Curtain fullness calculator

How many widths each curtain needs at the fullness you want — and what whole widths really gather to.

Curtain heading tape calculator

Tape, hooks and cord for a pair of curtains — and why hooks are not counted on the tape.

Standard curtain sizes

Ready-made drops and widths, in both systems — and what each width really gathers to.

Pattern repeat calculator

The cut length a repeat forces, what is trimmed from every piece, and what matching the design costs.

Updated 20 August 2026 · Method v1 · Written and maintained by Wickeey · Tell me if a result looks wrong