Learn a quick hack on how to lengthen drapery panels with fish hooks below!
After following interior design rules, do you ever find that you have a need to lengthen drapery panels in order to skim, break, or puddle the floor? If so, I've got just the hack for you!
For those that were unaware like me, there are standard design rules on how curtains and drapes should be hung so that the panels length hang appropriately. Fred Gonsowski's Garden and Home has a great illustration on how the right way to do this. Also, if you are a homeowner that buys pre-made drapery, please take note of this public service announcement from Elements of Style. Now, if you have followed all those guidelines and find that your drapes are just a tad short (like one to two inches short), I've got just the hack for you! It requires no sewing. This will not work for grommet styled curtains.
First, buy Fishing Barrel Swivels with Interlock Snaps. You can get them at Walmart for about $3 in various sizes depending on how long you need your curtains to be lengthened.
These bad boys were MADE to hold weight. And if you have heavy two story panels like I did in our living room (the weight was due to a layer of linen and a layer of black outlining), you are going to make sure your curtain rods and rings can balance the weight.
Here are the images of my drapes that were too short due to my hastiness in measuring for the curtains:
The goal was for my curtains to be even on the floor. We then added the Fishing Barrel Swivels with Interlock Snaps to the rings and hung the drapes back up. Here's the image of the exact product we used (found again at Walmart):
Here's how they looked now perfectly even on the floor:
Although this also does not fall into the realm of the interior design etiquette, I think that the importance of your drapery length outweighs the spacing between the rings and the curtains. Here is the after image of how it looks. It didn't stand out to you did it?
Watch the 2:00 minute marker on this video to see how I used them:
Pin this to your home decor board on Pinterest as a reminder for this tip:
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Curtain and Decor Posts
If you loved this post about finding the best two story curtains, check out these posts below:
Sheila
Hi found your site and so happy I did!
I am hanging sheers with a pocket top. Is it possible to use the barrel fish hooks to make them longer or is there another way?
Only using sheers!
Thanks in advance! ?
Leann
What about using them on curtains with rings on top?
Kristen Bylsma
This is great! Thanks for the tip; this is exactly what I'm looking for!
Seng
Hi Carelynn,
All you need to do is take the pleat hook, and hook it into the round top part of the swivel. Then you open up the other swivel end (similar to a necklace clasp), and hook that into the curtain ring. Hope that helps!
Casey
It looks like she attached the hooks to the curtain rod and clipped the curtain to them from there.
Hannah
so why do you not show in this post how you used the fishing snaps?! Makes no sense without your explanation and pics of the actual fix!
Seng
Hi Hannah,
All you need to do is take the pleat hook, and hook it into the round top part of the swivel. Then you open up the other swivel end (similar to a necklace clasp), and hook that into the curtain ring. Hope that helps!
Joyce
please show how to attach the rings to the swivels and snaps. Not clear to me. Sorry
Seng
Hi Joyce,
All you need to do is take the pleat hook, and hook it into the round top part of the swivel. Then you open up the other swivel end (similar to a necklace clasp), and hook that into the curtain ring. Hope that helps!
Melissa
Do you have a picture of what it was you did exactly? For instance, what does the top portion look like where you added said fishing swivels?
Seng
Hi Melissa,
We had pleated curtains that we just hooked the fishing hook on, and then put the hanger on it!