How to Make Roman Shades

Do your bare windows stand out from the otherwise aesthetic appearance of your house? If your answer is yes, then its time for you to spruce them up with life. Moreover, you can utilize the opportunity for giving vent to your own creativity and thought, making your dream house a personal Paradise. Yes, you guessed it right; making Roman shades for your windows is the best way to do so. Roman Shade is a piece of fabric, which is mounted at the top of your window and is pleated such that when its strings are pulled, the fabric folds at regular intervals. Thus, these blinds not only cover your windows, but also accentuate the overall beauty of your house. They can be made from different fabrics, materials as well as in varied patterns and styles, to suit your requirements.

Getting started

All set to create magic? First, decide what fabric you want to make your Roman blinds from. However, they are best made from light to medium weight fabrics and are mostly lined. After you have decided the fabric, you will also require a number of things to bring the little dream to reality. Given below is a check list of all the necessary items.

Fabric
Lining
Strips of wooden or plastic dowelling, 1.25" (3 cm) less than the blind's width
Small plastic rings, approximately 0.5" (12mm) in diameter
Wooden or brass acorn
Nylon cord, no. x (twice the length of the blind + the width of blind)
Wall cleat
Stick and sew Velcro enough for the width of the blind
Wooden Batten approx 1” (2.5cms) x 1” (2.5 cm) x the width of the finished blind
4 screw eyelets

How to Blindfold?

First of all, place the wooden batten in the required position, that is either inside or outside the window recess. Attach the adhesive side of the Velcro on the front side of the batten. Then, measure the length of the fabric, allowing extra space at places for pattern matching. Also, measure the width of the fabric by adding the seam allowance to the length and then dividing this number by the width of the fabric required. Remember, the width of the lining required will be the same as the fabric. Now, to sew your Roman blinds at home, read the instructions given below.

Cut the fabric into the required length and width, leaving around 5cm space for hem allowances. Make sure there are equal numbers of widths from the center, with the same pattern on all of them.
Cut the lining in the same measurement as the fabric, skipping any extra allowance for pattern matching.
Place the right side of the fabric on a flat surface, with the wrong side of the lining over it. Pin and stitch both sides along the bottom edges.
Trim the bottom corners and make another row of stitching on the bottom. Now, insert a dowel into the channel.
Turn the blind right side out, flattening all the seams, by pressing. Now draw a pencil line at the top edge of the fabric, at a distance of around 5cm.
Divide the remaining length in equal sections with a half section at the bottom edge, by drawing pencil marks.
Now make pockets at these pencil lines to hold the dowels.
Insert the dowels into these pockets and then sew the open ends.
Hand sew the plastic rings along the length of the blind at even intervals from both sides.
Stitch the sew side of the Velcro at the top of the blind. Now, hang the blind by pressing the two sides of the Velcro together.
Screw eyelets in the underside of the batten, right above the line of rings on the blind. Also, make an opening at the end of the batten, to operate it.
Measure and cut the cords depending on the number of ring rows your blind has. Tie the cords at the bottom loops, threading them up through other loops and the eyelet on the batten.
Taking all the cords on one side of the window, level them, thread them through acorn and tie a knot to secure them.
Now pull the cords together to draw the blind up, across the folds.

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