Swags & Jabots – Yardage Requirements

Swags are top treatments or valances, used over draperies or blinds or sometimes alone. They are usually draped into soft, graceful folds, using fabrics that drape easily. It is more interesting to use an uneven number of swags. Swags should be lined.

Jabots are folded pieces of fabric that fall from the top of the drapery heading or valance to crate a zig-zag effect. Jabot must be lined with the cover fabric or one that contrasts.

Yardage:
Swags – Based on an average of 44″ per swag, you will need 2 yards of fabric per swag.

Jabots – Double the longest length, add 4″ and divide by 36. This will give you the number of yards needed for a single pair of Jabots.

Swag Width, Board Face & Number of Swags

Swags may vary in width from 20″ to over 70″. Very small swags will have only a few folds. Extremely wide swags will have a limited drop length. The width of the swag is determined by the board face and the number of swags that will be used on each treatment. The following guide will help determine the number of swags needed based on the board face. The guide is based on the assumption that swag overlap will start approximately 1/2 or less the width

Swag Width:
To find the width of each swag, divide the board face width by one or more than the number of swags used and multiply by 2

Example:
Board face width = 127″ Number of swags = 5 (127″/6 = 21.16 * 2 = 42.33 or 43″ width for each swag.

The standard drop lengths of swags are 16″, 18″ or 20″. Usually 6 or 7 folds are placed across the top of a traditional swag with a standard drop. Swags that have shallow drops of 12″ will have 3 or 4 folds.

The chart to the right is an average guide to help you in finding swag drop based on face width.