Learn How to Make

How to Make Roman Blinds

If you can sew, then making your own Roman Blinds is really quite a simple job. First, you'll need fabric for the main blind, and a liner. Measure your window width, and allow an inch to either side for seams. A good way to estimate the length, is to measure the window vertically, then add 20%. So if it was 50" high, your fabric should be 60", plus an inch for the top and bottom seams.

Find a piece of cardboard and draw a scallop border, then cut it out. It's much simpler to trace around this for your bottom edge, than to draw it freehand on the fabric. Pin your fabric and liner together, with the good sides facing in. Then trace your scallops, and cut around them. Sew the bottom scalloped edge, the sides, and the top, leaving a 6-8" opening on the top edge, for turning the fabric right side out.

How many flaps you want on your blinds is up to you. But with printed fabric, if you insert too many, and it is scrunched up when the blinds are up, then you lose the beauty of the print. In general, you should go down each side, measuring every 4-6inches, marking it, then marking 1" below that for the flap. Fold the flaps up and sew them in. (You may wish to sew a "pocket" right above the scallop to insert a flat piece of dowelling to keep the shade hanging straight, when down, just like the old pull-up vinyl blinds did.)

Depending on the width of your shade, mark along each flap, every 5-7", for placing your cords. Cut as many cords as there are marks on one flap, and make them double the height plus one window width. Sew the cords in, making sure you knot them at the bottom to prevent slipping through, and run them up to the top.

Cut a length of hook and loop (Velcro style) tape, and sew one half along the liner side at the top of the blind. Use a small wooden mounting, perhaps 1x1" cut to the width of the window, to staple the other half of the tape to. Fasten eye screws along the mounting, at the same distance apart as the cords in the shade. Attach the wood to the top of the window frame with screws.

Run the cords of the shade through the screw hooks, then gather them together and tie the ends.

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