Specification guide
Sheer curtains, voiles and café curtains
Headings that suit a light, translucent cloth, four café curtain styles for restaurants, cafés and clinics, and how sheers are made up differently from lined curtains.
Sheers and voiles
Sheers are made unlined from FR voiles, most of them wide-width so any drop is cut without a seam. They hang on their own for daytime privacy or on a second track behind a lined curtain. The headings below are the ones that suit a light, translucent cloth; a heavy buckram heading on a voile looks wrong and is not offered.
| Heading | Fullness | Hangs from | Hook / glider | Stack-back | Best suited to | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave | 2× | Wave track only | Wave gliders at 60 mm or 80 mm | Small | Offices, hotels, healthcare, full-height glazing | Online |
| Pencil pleat | 1.75× | Track or pole | Standard hooks on translucent 75 mm tape | Medium | Guest rooms, care homes, education | Online |
| Pinch pleat | 2.5× | Track or pole | Pin hooks in translucent buckram | Medium | Suites, restaurants, formal schemes | Online |
| Eyelet | 1.75× | Pole only | Metal eyelets on 28 mm pole | Small | Student accommodation, lodges, offices | Online |
| Rod pocket | 1.5× | Rod or pole through pocket | None | Fixed | Secondary glazing, privacy screens, fixed sheers | Quote |
Voiles hang best with more fabric in them than a lined curtain. The ratios above are our standard; 2× to 2.5× on pencil pleat and eyelet can be specified for a fuller sheer.
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Configure onlineWave
The standard contract sheer heading. The S-fold gives an even, uninterrupted ripple that shows the translucency of the cloth and stacks into almost nothing. Usually paired with a lined curtain on a double wave track.
Translucent wave tape so the heading does not shadow through; fullness 2×
Browse wave voiles -
Configure onlinePencil pleat
Gathered on a clear or white voile tape so the tape is invisible from the room. The lowest-cost sheer heading and the easiest to launder and rehang.
Translucent tape; fullness 1.75× standard, 2× to 2.5× on request
Browse pencil pleat voiles -
Configure onlinePinch pleat
Double or triple pleats in a lightweight translucent buckram for a sheer that reads as tailored rather than gathered.
Sheer buckram; fullness 2.5×
Browse pinch pleat voiles -
Configure onlineEyelet
Eyelets punched through a stiffened band that is fused to the voile so the band does not show. Hangs in wide soft folds and slides easily on a pole.
Translucent band; 40 mm eyelets; fullness 1.75×
Browse eyelet voiles -
Rod pocket
A sewn channel that a slim rod or tension wire passes through, gathering the voile tightly. For sheers that stay in place rather than being drawn.
Fixed panel; top and bottom pockets available for tensioned sheers; fullness 1.5×
Café curtains
A café curtain covers the lower part of a window only, hung from a rod fixed across the glazing at sill-plus height. It screens the street without blocking daylight, which is why it is the standard dressing for restaurants, cafés, ground-floor consulting rooms and reception windows. Made in FR voile or a light plain to a stated rod height; the heading decides how formal it reads.
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QuoteEyelet café curtain
Small metal eyelets threaded straight onto a slim café rod. The most common contract choice: quick to fit, easy to take down for laundering, and the eyelets read as a deliberate detail on a brass or black rod.
25 mm eyelets on a 16–19 mm rod; finishes to match; fullness 1.5×
Fire standard BS 5867-2 Type B or Type C on the fabric
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QuotePinch pleat café curtain
Double or triple pleats in a translucent buckram, hung from rings with clips or pin hooks. Gives a half-height sheer the same tailored line as the full-height curtains in the room.
Sheer buckram, rings on a 16–19 mm rod; fullness 2×
Fire standard BS 5867-2 Type B or Type C on the fabric
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QuoteRod pocket café curtain
A sewn channel that the rod passes through, gathering the voile tightly against it. The simplest and lowest-cost construction, suited to fixed panels that are rarely moved.
Pocket sized to rod; optional bottom pocket for a tensioned panel; fullness 1.5×
Fire standard BS 5867-2 Type B or Type C on the fabric
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QuoteClip-ring café curtain
A flat-topped panel held by clip rings on the rod, so it can be taken down without unthreading. Useful where the curtain is laundered often or swapped seasonally.
Flat heading with lead-weight hem; clip rings to match rod; fullness 1.5×
Fire standard BS 5867-2 Type B or Type C on the fabric
Sheer make-up
How sheers differ from lined curtains in make-up.
- Widths and joins
- Wide-width voiles (280–330 cm) are railroaded so a sheer of any width has no vertical seam. Where a standard-width voile is joined, seams are French-seamed so no raw edge shows through the cloth.
- Hems and weights
- Double 100 mm bottom hem with continuous lead-weight tape sewn inside; double 25 mm side hems. Weights keep the voile hanging straight and stop it lifting in air-conditioned rooms.
- Translucent heading tape
- All sheer headings use clear or white translucent tape or sheer buckram so no heading shadow shows from the room.
- Double tracks
- Sheer and lined curtain are hung on a double track or a track-and-pole combination with the sheer on the window side; brackets are sized so the two layers clear each other when drawn.
- Fire rating
- Voiles are tested to BS 5867-2 as a single unlined layer. Type B and Type C voiles are marked as such on each product page; the finished sheer carries the rating of the cloth.
Frequently asked questions
Do voiles and sheers need to be fire retardant?
Yes, to the same BS 5867-2 standard as curtains; a sheer is a curtain in the eyes of the standard. Voiles are tested as a single unlined layer and the product page states whether the cloth is Type B or Type C.
How high should a café curtain rod be fixed?
Usually at or just above the horizontal glazing bar, or at 1,000–1,200 mm from the floor where there is no bar, so a seated person is screened and a standing person can see over. State the rod height and the curtain is made to it.
Can sheers hang behind a lined curtain on one track?
Not on a single track. Sheer and curtain need a double track, or a track and pole combination, with the sheer on the window side and brackets projected so the two layers clear each other when drawn. We supply double tracks matched to the headings.
Can sheers be configured online?
Yes. Wave, pencil pleat, pinch pleat and eyelet sheers are priced online on every voile in the FR voiles collection. Rod pocket, flat panel and café curtains are quoted.
Need this priced for a project?
Add a voile to a project quote from any product page, note the heading, rod height or café style, and we price it with the rod or track.