Parts of a Curtain – Rod, Rings, Heading, Tieback, Hem

All 11 parts on the diagram

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Curtains on a rod 9

Curtain rod (pole) The bar above the window that the curtains hang from.
Panel One curtain. A window usually has a pair.
Rings They slide on the rod so the curtain can be pulled across.
Tieback A band looped round the curtain and hooked to the wall.
Hem The bottom edge, folded up and sewn.
Finial The ornament on each end of the rod.
Bracket A support screwed to the wall that holds the rod.
Heading The top of the curtain, where it is pleated or gathered.
Pleats Folds sewn into the heading to take up the fullness.

Valance and lining 2

Valance A short length of fabric hung across the top of the window.
Lining A second fabric sewn to the back of the curtain.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Curtain (panels, heading, pleats, lining, rings, tie-backs), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtain; Curtain rod (rod or pole, brackets, finial), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtain_rod; Curtain tie-back, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtain_tie-back; Window valance, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_valance. (2) Agnes Foster Wright, Making Curtains and Hangings (1915), public domain (rods and rings, heading, pleats, hems, lining, valance), https://archive.org/details/makingcurtainsa00fostgoog. (3) Clara Dodson, Draperies: Make Your Own, a state extension circular (1971) (rod, heading, pinch pleats, hems, lining), https://archive.org/details/draperiesmakeyou1035dods. (4) Selection of Window Treatments, a home economics course module (1971) (panels, tiebacks, valance), https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41153109_0043. (5) For finials, brackets and rings, passages of one publisher's window treatment books read through the Internet Archive's full-text search, for example https://archive.org/details/completephotogui0000unse_m6j4. Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's product, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A curtain is a length of fabric hung to cover a window. This drawing names nine parts of a pair of curtains on a rod, then the valance above them and the lining behind.

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From the rod down

The curtain rod rests in brackets fixed to the wall, and a finial finishes each end. Rings slide along the rod. Each curtain, or panel, hangs from them by its heading, the top edge, which here is taken up in pleats. A tieback holds the left panel open to one side. The bottom edge is turned up and sewn as a hem. In the second view a valance runs across the top, and a turned corner shows the lining on the back.

Heading or hem? The heading is the top edge, under the rod. The hem is the bottom edge.
A valance is fabric. It is hung on a rod of its own, in front of the curtains.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a curtain called?

The fabric is a panel, with a heading at the top and a hem at the bottom, often with a lining behind. It hangs by rings from a rod, which sits in brackets and ends in finials. A tieback holds it open.

What is the top of a curtain called?

The heading. It is the top edge of the curtain, where the fabric is pleated or gathered and where the rings or hooks are fastened.

What is the end of a curtain rod called?

A finial. It is the ornament fitted to each end of the rod, often a ball or a turned knob.

What is the short curtain across the top of a window called?

A valance, called a pelmet in Britain. It is a short length of fabric hung across the top of the window, where it hides the rod and the curtain headings.