Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Do-It-Yourself - Roman Blind



DIYs...I'm your gal. I've watched my dad build and transform house projects since I was a little girl so a DIY makes my heart sing.

Sooo, we have a window in our kitchen that was in need for some serious drapery love. One small problem, this gal can't sew (even though I've wached my Mom sit at her sewing machine a hundred times growing up, the power of osmosis just didn't kick in). I called around various fabric stores to get a quote on custom roman blinds. I was quoted anywhere from $240 - $400. Really? For a blind that doesn't need to be closed - ever? Yikes.

In comes my mission to figure out how to make my own...without sewing?! The lack of sewing talent really knocked out alot of online tutorials. Until...I came across this fab tutorial (http://www.impartinggrace.com/2011/05/faux-roman-shade-tutorial.html)
Here is my version...

Ingredients for your roman blind:

- Measuring tape
- Fabric
- Curtain tension rods
- Fabric Glue
- Sharp scissors
- Iron

Directions:

1. Measure the width and length of your window to ensure you have enough fabric. You'll need to end up with a shade that's the width of the inside of your window. The length of the shade would ideally be the length of your window, but it doesn't have to be that long. Simply cut your fabric to the correct width plus an inch on either side and twice the length you want to end up with.

2. Iron your fabric and then lay your fabric out on a large work surface (I used my dining room table). Cut your fabric an extra inch wide on each side; now turn the fabric under 1 inch on each side and secure the flaps with fabric glue (this is so you dont have ugly edges).


3. Double the fabric over, right sides together and glue the two ends together to join it. Turn the fabric right side out. Now you have a large rectangle of fabric.

4. And now for the secret tool that makes this shade possible and awesome...the tension rod. These rods are adjustable to any length. I bought mine at Zellers. Measure the inside of your window frame to find the length you need, and adjust the rod by pulling it in or out.

5. Insert one end of the rod into your fabric like so:


6. Hang your fabric rectangle in the top of your window frame (put the glued seam at the top so that you can hide the seam).

7. Take a second tension rod and hang it a few inches lower than your top rod like so:


8. Now bring the fabric up to double over the first rod:



Repeat with a third tension rod:




And...VOILA!! a beautiful custom made no-sew Roman Blind that looks fresh.fabulous.sophisticated. You can do it too! - take THAT expensive design store!

Keep it Beautiful.



7 comments:

  1. I love this idea! My kitchen window could use a new lease on life - I will try this out. THANKS! Looking forward to stealing more ideas....

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  2. It looks beautiful and I love that fabric! I totally need to do something similar with our kitchen windows. Congratulations on your blog launch! Have fun! I look forward to seeing more:)

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    1. Thanks so much Megan! I'm looking forward to posting more :) Thank you for responding!

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  3. oh great Leanne!! Thanks for checking it out :)

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  4. Great idea! I've been looking to make a similar Roman blind for our bathroom and kitchen and have zero sewing skills. Have a question re: length of fabric that I just facebooked you about. Excited about this DIY project:)

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  5. Thanks for leaving the great question Sarita! Sarita's question is: I'd like my bathroom blind to be 15 inches in length so should I cut the fabric to 30 inches? I know the fabric will be folded in half and glued to form a large rectangle, but then the fabric will end up shorter once folded over the curtain roads, right? So, should the fabric be cut to 60 inches then?

    You should definitely double the fabric in length as it will be folded over. So yes, cut the fabric to 60 inches, then fold so that your long rectangle fabric is 30 inches in length. Then, in order to get it to 15 inches, this is where you need to play with your tension rods to determine how big you want to make each fold to create the length of the roman blind. Please let me know if this helps and if you have more questions.

    Sarita, make sure you take a photo when your done and send it to me. Would love to see your final result :)

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