Your post is so timely for me. I really hope you receive a good answer. I work nights and must sleep in the day and am currently looking for blackout blinds and curtains. Could you tell me about your JC Penney curtains? I was looking at the Eclipse Ashby panels and the Eclipse Tristan. May I ask the style of Eclipse you purchased?
I will be following this post to see if anyone has a good solution for the valance/panel hardware.
Good Luck

We got the same drapes for another bedroom, and with the rod right up against the wall (not the way the rod is supposed to be hanging) they block all the light. That's what I want for our bedroom, but I really want the valance too!

Since you like how the rod and curtains hang in the second bedroom, buy another rod just like that and hang your blackout drapes. Then buy a separate rod for the valance. Hang it slightly higher and wider and on brackets that extend out further.

Here is a link that might be useful: 5 inch extender brackets

Snickysnacker -- the ones I purchased are Robert Eclipse Black-out Energy Saving Panels -- Thermaweave Panel. They are really soft and drape beautifully.
Graywings -- the problem is that the way they're hanging in the second bedroom is a workaround. My husband -- who needs to sometimes sleep in there because of a bad back -- took the decorative rod out of the dip in the front of the bracket and just pushed it up against the wall. Not really a good look, and you can't really slide the curtains to open them because the rod is just resting on the back of the bracket,rather than being held securely. But what it showed us is that if these curtains are closer to the window the amount of light that can sneak over the top or around the sides is reduced to almost nothing! Why is it that all the brackets that hold round rods extend at least 4 inches from the wall? I don't need that much clearance.
Are there any alternatives?
(thank you both for responding!)

What about building a cornice in place of the valance?
That should reduce the light from the top.

I've attached on example, but you could google cornice box to get loads of ideas!

Here is a link that might be useful: Home made cornice box

FYI-Target and Walmart both sell the Eclipse brand of black-out curtains. They come in several lengths and weaves. You may need to check out both of their websites.

I too work nights and have found that an interlined drape works fairly well on blocking light if one desires something fancier.

That's great to know where one can buy the curtains.. I just bought two long panels at Penneys for about $36 dollars!...but I hope someone will get back to my original question about how to hang them with valances.
Thanks homemaker. I actually don't like the cornice look -- a bit too structured and formal for me. Anyone have ideas about how to hang the curtains closer to the wall and have the valance over it, on a rod that's strong enough to handle it?

Velcro on the window frames and edges of the Eclipse drapes?

Sleep masks?

You might have better luck finding a bracket that holds the pole close to the wall in Home Depot/Lowes, but not in the drapery aisle. Go to the aisle where they sell PVC pipe and see if something there would work. Since you are using a valance, you won't see the brackets. If you are desperate, you could use a simple L bracket and attach the pole to the brackets with screws, putting the curtains on first, of course.

Look at this site which sells everything imaginable related to PVC pipe. They have something called a Super Mounting Clamp (SMC)

Here is a link that might be useful: PVC Super Mounting Clamp

Did you think of hanging the valance to cover the box?

Light does escape from the top of my drapes as well. Since you have a valance to hide the top of the drapes I wonder if you could hang the valance higher than the drapes. Next, try to rig up corrugated or something at the top of the drapes to block the light from going up. Perhaps something could rest on the rod for the valance and return to the wall. Be creative!

Below are some double brackets that may work.

If you're trying to keep out light that comes from the top of the curtain, then hang/mount your valance on a 1x board that is attached to the wall with 'L' brackets.
Here are some basics on a mounting board. http://www.ehow.com/how_4850955_valance-board.html

Here is a link that might be useful: brackets