Ribbon-trim roller shades

I used curtains on the basement windows to bring warmth to the space and give the appearance of height.  For privacy, I wanted to keep things clean and simple - roller shades were the perfect solution, and fit nicely in my budget.  I found the basic white fabric roller shades at Ikea (unfortunately, I can't find them on their website now - I wonder if they're discontinued?).  To give them a bit of personality and counter-balance the line of the black curtain rod, I trimmed them with gray grosgrain ribbon.      

Here you can see the shade without ribbon...

It wasn't only about decorating the shade... the ribbon trim was actually essential on this door-shade, since the edges of the shade are unfinished.  By gluing a band of ribbon along the edge, it effectively prevents fraying along the edges and fingerprints.

To trim the vertical edges, I unrolled the shade most of the way, ran the trim up the edges to near the top (using hot glue), and then rolled it back down to the length of the window. 



All in all - a very simple and inexpensive way to spruce up basic shades.  The ribbon cost under $10 and the whole effort took less than an hour.

DIY Roman Shades - A Few Variations

If you're not a DIYer... sorry for this lengthy/wordy post... please accept this eye candy as my apology!

Christopher Maya via House Beautiful

Following up on yesterday's DIY Roman Shades post, today, I'm sharing some details of how I made the shades in our bedroom (using existing roman shade hardward/cords) and in the girls' bathroom (using existing hardware/cords from mini-blinds).  I can't promise that these methods will save THAT much time or effort... but, they provide some alternatives... and could save you a few dollars on supplies.
 
Work with what you've got (i.e., repurpose your existing shades/blinds):

Master Bedroom Shades:

In our bedroom, we had white JC Penney roman shades on the windows before I launched the makeover. 

For a true short-cut, you could simply attach your new shade fabric on the front of the existing shade.  I've read that this is possible and works well... but, alas, I didn't try this.  First, because I chose a relatively heavy-weight fabric (Tala Bluemarine) and thought it might be too bulky with the existing shade.  Second, I did not want those dark horizontal lines (wooden dowels) to show through. 

So, instead of using the existing shade fabric, I simply un-knotted the lift cords from the lift rings, snipped off the shade fabric, and left the mounting board/bracket and lift cords intact.  Oops - forgot to photograph this step (bad blogger!).

Girls' Bathroom Shade:

In the girls' bathroom - we had white vinyl mini-blinds on the window pre-renovation.

The lift/lower mechanism on blinds is essentially the same as that on a roman shade.  So, rather than ditch the perfectly good mounting hardware... I decided to repurpose it. 

For a true short-cut - have a look at Jenny's ingenious tutorial on how to make roman shades from mini-blinds (gluing the fabric to the actual slats).  I opted for the traditional lift rings approach (something about spending a ridiculous sum on this single yard of fabric made me feel like I needed to be a purist of sorts and sew - rather than glue - the shade).  So, I pulled off all the slats and ladder strings...

and was left with this.  By the way, this is essentially what the JC Penney white roman shade looked like sans white fabric (except without the clear plastic stick used for opening/closing blinds - which is removed for this project). 

Note that the positioning of these cords (several inches in from the ends) is not ideal... it's better for the cords to be as close to the ends of the mounting board as possible (leaving room for the cord lock mechanism).

Making the fabric shade:

In yesterday's post, I showed how I sewed the front fabric to the liner - using a pillowcase-like design. 

Master Bedroom Shades:

For the bedroom shades, I followed a different approach.  My lovely Tala fabric has a very loose weave, and I was concerned that it would lose shape over time if it was not stabilized.

To attach the drapery lining to the Tala fabric, I fused them by ironing them together with No Sew HeatNBond (I bought it at my local fabric shop by the bolt).  This definitely stabilized the Tala fabric... in fact, it made it pretty stiff, which worked to my advantage, since I was not planning to use plastic battens. The stiffness of the fabric makes the folds very crisp (although they do require a little "training" to go up neatly). 

Rather than fusing all the way to the edges, I cut the HeatNBond and drapery lining to the width of the finished shade, and left about an inch of Tala on either side.  In the photo above, you can see the HeatNBond being ironed onto the Tala fabric first.  Next, I peeled off the paper backing, placed the white drapery lining over the ironed-on HeatNBond, and then ironed over that to fuse them together.

Next, I folded over the edges - ironed - folded again - and ironed again - to hem the sides. 

To secure the hems, I cut strips of HeatNBond - but - given the many layers of fabric - the "bond" was not very strong... so I just stitched a line up each side of the shade as reinforcement.

Sewing the top and bottom hems is basically the same process used for our master bathroom shade (yesterday's post).  Once the fabric shades were all stitched and ready for assembly, I laid the mounting boards with lift cords at the top of each shade to identify the distance from the edge for the lift rings.  Next, I performed my little eyeballing pinch method of creating the folds...

With pencil markings for the lift rings, I got to work on sewing them in place, and then laying the mounting boards with lift cords back on the shades - and putting it all together.





 And, eventually I hung them back up - on their existing brackets.

I like that these are more substantial and interesting than the white JC Penney shades, but that they also let in a good bit of light.

Girls' Bathroom Shade:

For the girls' bathroom shade, I followed the same general approach as above, but without fusing the front and liner fabrics together.

I measured the lining to be the same as the width of the finished shade, with just over an inch of front fabric on either side for hems.

This time I pinned, rather than fused the hems (which did not work well the first time around).

Once the shade was sewn, I played with the trim to see where/how it would look best.  I pinned the corners for mitering, and got to work...

But, unfortunatley, I must not have measured QUITE right... b/c I ended up with an imperfect rectangle.  I pulled and pulled, and forced that thing to fit (sewing in place, rather than gluing this time), but what it ended up doing was cause the fabric to pucker...



and, by that point - I was totally burned out - and had used up every last shred of the hot pink cotton webbing.  So, I gave myself a little pep talk (imperfections add character, right?)...

sewed on the lift rings, attached the lift cords and mounting hardware and put it up - flaws and all.

Oh well!  It's still cheerful and functional.  A little puckered window shade is certainly not going to bother these clients (my 2 and 4 year old girls)!

Note about placement of lift cords:  I mentioned above that the placement of the lift cords on the blinds was less than ideal (not close enough to the edges).  Since this is such a tiny shade (24" width), and because the cotton webbing trim gives it some stability... it didn't really matter here.  If it were a wider shade, or a flimsier fabric, it would likely have caused the sides of the shade to droop down when raised (opposite of my master bathroom shade, which droops in the middle).  You could try to counteract this by inserting a wooden dowel inside the bottom hem. 

Whew - that's a lot of words!  Hope this is helpful if you're tackling your own roman shade project. 

DIY Roman Shades

I made my first roman shade a few years ago - for our powder room.

ummm, a wee bit cockeyed!  (this shade has been subsequently replaced by blinds and a valance)

The first was definitely the hardest - but, once I understood how these things actually worked - I was able to improvise a little and adapt my method.  Next, I made 2 shades for our aqua/orange nursery.

I definitely made a few mistakes along the way, but, these shades are very functional (and the mistakes aren't too obvious).

So, when it was time for new window treatments in our 2 new bathrooms and our bedroom, I felt like I pretty much had the hang of it. 

But, even after all that practice - it was still a learning process on the 5 most recent shades - and there are things I'd like to do over (e.g., that pesky puckering at the top of the pink/orange shade). 

So, I'm definitely no expert, but I thought I would share some of the things I've learned along the way.

Tips for making your own roman shade:

1. Find a roman shade (in your own home or elsewhere) - and study it.  Lift and lower it.  See how it works.  I wish I had done this to start! 
2. Read the tutorial at Terrell Designs.  This is where I started with my first shade.  She has very detailed instructions, calculating tools and a shop for purchasing shade hardware.  Her website is extremely helpful!  But, I have a few thoughts about the Terrell method:
• Terrell's instructions for sewing the front fabric and lining together are a little more complicated than need be.  I've tried a simpler alternative, and it seems to work fine (see steps 1-4 below).
• She strongly advocates for internal "battens" (flexible plastic sticks), which make the shade lift neatly, without having to fuss with the folds.  I've decided to forgo the battens on my recent shades - and, I think you can go either way.  My advice is to use battens if: (1) you plan to open and close your shades regularly (daily); (2) you are using lighter weight fabric and/or you want very crisp folds; or (3) you are making an unusually wide shade. (Note also that plastic battens are hard to find. I purchased some from her website, and spent more than I would have liked).
• She advocates for using a steel weight rod on the bottom of the shade.  In my experience, this make it really heavy.  It may be helpful for certain fabrics or for large windows, but I think a wooden dowel is probably sufficient.  And, if you're going for the "relaxed", like my bathroom shade below, you won't use anything to weigh down the bottom.
• Terrell's method calls for a precise formula/blueprint for your shade.  Maybe it's best to follow this method for your first go at this (like I did)... since it helps you visualize how to make the shade work.  But, if you are reasonably good at sewing/DIY and eyeballing things generally, I think you can skip this step and follow my unscientific method below.
3. Stick to cotton fabrics.  That black & white polka dot shade was made of a synthetic fabric, which was impossible to work with.  You'll be much happier if you stick to cotton.
4. Spring for a cord lock... and then figure out how to string it.  Using a cord cleat is fine if you will hardly ever open/close your shades... but, for functionality, you cannot beat a cord lock.
5. Consider safety issues (roman shade cords can be a hazard for young children).  You can see more info here.  In my home, I keep all lift cords very short, and try to keep shades lifted and completely out of reach when the girls are playing in a room with roman shades.

Step-by-Step:  Making a Classic Relaxed Roman Shade (from Scratch)

I used some short-cuts for some of the newer shades (will post short-cuts tomorrow), but the master bathroom shade (bird print) was completely from scratch.  Here are some photos to illustrate the process.  My cursory instructions assume some basic understanding/knowledge.  Please feel free to ask questions though, and I'll try to respond to make things clearer.  And, Terrell's site is so comprehensive, if you're uncertain about something, chances are you can find it there.

1. Measure, measure, measure.  You'll need to decide if you're mounting inside the window frame or outside.  Place your front fabric faced down on your fabric lining, pin the sides, and mark a sewing line (I'm not hip to the sewing lingo) with a pencil.

2.  Sew your front and liner fabrics together - sides only.

3.  Turn inside out, press the seams, and create a narrow hem at the top (1/2 - 3/4").  Fold, iron and sew.

4.  Your shade should look like a pillowcase at this point.  Now, determine your finished length, and fold your bottom hem accordingly (fold over once, iron, then fold again and iron).  Then, sew in place.

Notice the big "uh oh" in this photo?  I used the selvedge line to mark my side seam, and forgot that the pattern wouldn't go all the way to the edge of the shade!  Well, if I was previously on the fence about adding a trim around the edges... this sealed the deal.  Good thing my trim was wide enough to hide it.  Oops!

5.  If you're adding decorative trim, measure, measure, measure!  Then, I recommend sewing mitered corners (but use a matching thread, for goodness sake! I  was too lazy to switch out the white for navy).

6.  Once you've sewed all your corners, glue down the trim with fabric glue or hot glue.

it's starting to look like something...

7.  Here's the short-cut eyeballing method... fold your shade as you'd like to see it folded when fully raised.  You will need to play with the folds a bit, to get them even and spaced properly.  If you have added trim, you'll probably want the bottom of the shade to show.  If there's no trim, you might have the bottom raised and hidden behind the bottom fold.  (Blogger will not let me upload this picture horizontally, for some reason!)

8.  Pinch your pleats, and make small pencil markings on the creases (on the back of the shade) as shown, about 2" in from the sides.  These markings are where you will sew lift rings.

9.  Sew velcro (hook & loop tape) to the top hem of your shade (on the back).  This will be used to attach the shade to the mounting board.

10.  Cut a 1"x2" wooden board to the width of your shade, and cover it with the same fabric as the shade (using glue) - this really doesn't need to be perfect.  . 

11.  Staple the other side of the velcro to the front edge of your mounting board. 

12.  Gather your mounting supplies - screw eyes, a cord lock, and drapery cord (not pictured).  (Again, problem with blogger photo upload!)

and attach the screw eyes and cord lock.  My shade was only about 27" wide, so I only needed 2 rows of lift rings, and therefore, 2 screw eyes.  For wider shades, you'd probably need 3 columns of lift rings (so, a screw eye in the middle of the mounting board as well).

13.  Now, it's time to sew on the lift rings.  Hopefully, you have lined up your screw eye with your pencil markings, but if not, move the lift rings in line with the screw eye. 

14.  Oops - forgot to photograph this next step.  Here's the back of an old JC Penney shade, to show how the cord is attached.  Cut 2 long pieces of drapery cord.  String each piece through the lift rings on each side of the shade, and attach each cord to the bottom lift ring by knotting. 

15.  Now, the string on the left side goes through the screw eye on the top left and then comes to the right, through the next screw eye, and then through the cord lock.  The string on the right goes through the right screw eye and through the cord lock (photo below).

16.  Now, the mounting board is ready for mounting.  I used wood screws to attach it to the underside of the window frame (you can see the wood screw below).  During this step, the shade will be hanging down from the bracket (but still attached), since you've already tied the lift cords to the lift rings. 

17.  Finally, lift the shade up and attach the velcro pieces together.  You can then knot your lift cords together near the top of the shade, and then attach some kind of cord pull (I haven't found one yet).

18.  If you add a valance, you can simply sew a rectangle of the desired size, add the trim in the same way that was done for the shade, and then glue the top of the valance to the top of the mounting board (it could be stapled, if it were attached prior to mounting).  With a valance, you could also pull the lift cord through the shade fabric (hidden by the valance), by attaching a small grommet near the top of the shade under the valance.  I haven't gotten around to this either!).

And, there you have it. 



When raised, it has a casual, draped feel.  If you don't like the droopy look in the middle - you could follow Terrell's instructions for attaching plastic battons, which would create straight, horizontal folds.

Tomorrow, I'll highlight the few alternative methods and short-cuts that I used on the girls' bathroom shade and the master bedroom shades.