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Roman Shades 2.0

Psssst... this post *might* contain affiliate links: see my disclosure here.

May 20, 2014

I’m a firm believer in the power of a good window treatment.  It softens the space AND keeps the neighbors from getting an eye-full… win-win.  For our home office makeover, I was originally going to sew another set of lined curtains, but…. once the built ins were in place… I thought curtains would be too much.   Time for Roman Shades 2.0.

How to Sew Roman Shades

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

I made a set of Roman shades a while back for the kids’ room and I love them.  They were a little more complicated because I wanted them to have black out liner, so these ones don’t have as many steps.  If you read that post, I suspect these will seem much easier!  I mean, I’m not good for much, but hopefully all my past ‘Roman Shading’ can benefit someone, right?!

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Step 1. Measure for the Shades

Okay, for Roman Shades, there are two ways to mount them… inside your window (inside mount) or sitting on the window trim and falling in front of the window (outside mount).  I chose the inside mount.  This affected how I measured for the shades… I measured the inside dimensions of our window (width and height) and cut my fabric 6 inches wider and 12 inches longer.  You’ll see why later.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Step 2: Iron and Hem the shades

I loved how the extra bit of lining made the dining room curtains feel more legit so I grabbed some simple cotton lining when I had a coupon at JoAnn.  First… get your iron on.  This sucks, but is a MUST.   Fold under the side edges of your shade fabric 1/2″ and iron.  Then fold the side edges another 2.5″ and iron.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades. Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Step 3. Add the lining

Cut your lining so that it’s slightly narrower than your shade fabric.  Lay your lining on top of the shade fabric and fold your two ironed sides over the edge of the lining.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

I didn’t mind having a seam along this edge, but for a cleaner look you can hand sew the edges.

Step 4. Sew hem with room for dowel

For the bottom of each shade, I pressed the exposed edge under 1/2″.  Then I hemmed this about 3″.  My dowel rods were maybe 3/4″ so I sewed a second seam an inch below my hemmed seam in order to create a little pocket for the dowel rod to slide into.  I like having the extra 2″ of fabric below my dowel, but you could certainly just slide your dowel into your hem if you wanted.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Step 5. Sew plastic rings onto shade

This go around, I also skipped the pre-made ring strips and just hand sewed each plastic ring onto the back of the shade.  Pretty sure I got caught up on Great American Dream Builders… you guys are watching, right?!

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Step 6. Attach shade to mounting board

For the top edge, I made sure I triple measured how high the window was and then marked this on my fabric.  I used a 1 x 2 cut to be a smidge narrower than the shade.  I lined up the mark on my fabric with the top edge of the board and then wrapped the fabric around the board with a staple gun.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Step 7. Screw in eye rings and thread cording

I screwed in 4 screw eyes in line with my plastic rings.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Eleanor helped me thread the cord through all the rings.  To keep the cord from coming loose, I threaded it through a wooden bead and tied a knot.  I didn’t get a fancy locking thingamajig for the top this time and just rely on the cleat screwed into the window frame to hold the blind in place.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Caution:

Roman shade cords are a big time strangulation hazard so I made sure to screw the cleat in well above the reach of the kids so the cords are never dangling loose.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

You’ll hate me when I tell you this fabric was picked up at the flea market a while ago and it worked perfectly for this space.  I love it.

Don’t they bring the room together so nicely?

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

pin-me-pin-me

Simple steps to sewing my own fabric roman shades.

XO Charlotte

28 Comments · Popular Posts, Sewing 1

Comments

  1. Jane says

    May 20, 2014 at 5:14 pm

    Absolutely love this idea and the very clear instructions on how-to-do. Hmmm Looking at our front living room window, am thinking they might be a good candidate for a roman shade. I have a sheer curtain and then heavier drapes, but the open/close mechanism has been non-working for a long time now. A roman shade could look really good there. LOL, yet another project to add to my wanna-do list. I’m collecting quite a variety of such projects. Oh, the fun in store as they get going.

    Reply
    • Charlotte says

      May 21, 2014 at 3:54 pm

      Jane, My list is never ending too. 🙂 Roman Shades are pretty simple…. just a few straight lines and some rings. I say go for it!

      Reply
  2. In My Wheele House says

    May 20, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    I keep meaning to try this.
    You just made it look so easy with really great instructions… Now I have no excuses.

    Also, I keep forgetting to tell you that I love the new logo.

    Reply
    • Charlotte says

      May 21, 2014 at 3:53 pm

      Thanks, Pat! It was definitely easier after having sewed a pair already, but it’s not fancy sewing… just straight lines. 🙂 And I LOVE the logo… thanks!

      Reply
  3. Melody says

    May 20, 2014 at 9:14 pm

    Great job Charlotte! I am a bit disappointed to hear that fabric is vintage because it’s beautiful. Thanks for a very informative tutorial. I have a few windows I might have to try this on. Wonderful work!

    Reply
    • Charlotte says

      May 21, 2014 at 3:30 pm

      I know. 🙁 I swear I found the link to it at some point… it may not be ‘vintage’ but it’s probably more expensive than the $12 I spent on it! 🙂

      Reply
  4. gardengnome says

    May 2, 2015 at 3:19 am

    Thanks so much for posting this. You’ve done a such a great job explaining the steps that I’m losing my trepidation about tackling this.

    Reply
    • Charlotte Smith says

      May 3, 2015 at 9:28 pm

      YAY! You can do it! 🙂 Sewing the rings is a little fussy, but the shade itself is just a rectangle… good luck!!

      Reply
  5. Lisa @ Shine Your Light says

    October 5, 2015 at 1:38 pm

    Charlotte this was the very first post I saw when I opened up Pinterest today. Hey I know you!!! My new friend. Love love love how your DIY roman shades came out. I have made DIY no-sew roman shades with mini blinds and with fabric over bamboo shades and they are both B.A.D. I can’t even blog about them. I really need to learn how to thread the bobbin on my sewing machine because you are making me feel confident that even I could make shades that are beautiful like yours.

    Reply
    • Charlotte Smith says

      October 9, 2015 at 10:35 am

      Lisa! I read this on my phone and then totally forgot to log back in and reply! Gah!! Isn’t it so fun when we see our friends work on Pinterest! I feel the same way!! And I’m a crap sewer, so if I can do these… you can do these. 🙂 xx

      Reply
  6. Carol says

    November 5, 2015 at 10:36 am

    Hello, i love this post! But i don’t understand if you use a plastic shaft or wood shaft. Are you used?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Smith says

      November 5, 2015 at 12:01 pm

      Hi Carol,
      Thanks!
      I used a wooden dowel along the bottom of the roman shade and then another small wooden board across the top in order to attach it to the window frame. I hope this answers your question. I’m not sure what you mean by ‘shaft’ but these are the only two things besides fabric I used… Good luck!

      Reply
  7. Mae says

    April 14, 2017 at 11:12 pm

    WOULD LOVE TO SEE HOW YOU MADE ROMAN BLINDS WITH A blackout LINING BUT THE LINK ABOVE TO THAT post Doesn’t GO ANYWHERE (and a search on your site turned up nothing). Can you help a sistah out?

    Reply
    • Mae says

      April 14, 2017 at 11:13 pm

      Also, I have no idea why some words are in all caps, sorry about that, am totally not yelling.

      Reply
    • Charlotte Smith says

      April 19, 2017 at 9:31 am

      Hi Mae! I didn’t bring over all the content from my old site so that post might not have made the cut. I made the lined Roman Shades exactly the same way, but I bought a black out curtain, cut it to size and hand sewed it in lieu of the lining you see on these shades. Hope that helps! Same process… just layer the black out curtain on top! Good luck!

      Reply
  8. melissa says

    July 19, 2017 at 4:46 pm

    Hey there. Could you tell me How you attached it to the window frame? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Charlotte Smith says

      July 19, 2017 at 9:56 pm

      I just screwed up through the board at the top of the shade into the window trim. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  9. Sheri ahmet says

    July 22, 2017 at 3:55 am

    Hello
    These are so lovEly thank you for great instructions… i made blinds before but the pleats didnt line up great and where sort of wonky!! any tips on getting the rings spot on to prevent this HAPPENING?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Smith says

      July 24, 2017 at 10:27 pm

      Oh gosh.. how frustrating! I’d say be very careful when measuring your fabric so that the rings are placed at the same place on either side! Perhaps safety pin them in place before sewing to make sure they look straight! Good luck!

      Reply
  10. Bev says

    July 25, 2017 at 11:37 am

    I love these! But I need a little more information on how you lace the strings. One through each ring, then where? Help! I can’t seem to get this part.

    Reply
    • Charlotte Smith says

      July 25, 2017 at 7:01 pm

      Hi Bev! So the laces tie around the loop at the bottom of the Roman shade and then they loop through each ring to the top of the shade. They then run along the top, through the rings, until they connect to whatever toggle you’re using to raise/ lower the shade? Does that make any sense?

      Reply
  11. Karen says

    September 26, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    What is The advantages of having dowels on each Fold aNd not. ihave seen thE roman nlinds done both ways. Yoursjust had the dowel on the bottom.

    Reply
    • Charlotte Smith says

      September 26, 2017 at 8:32 pm

      I think it’s just a cleaner look… if the roman shade is wider, the fabric can sag in the middle of each fold without dowels. Multiple dowels could also make the roman shade a bit bulkier so a lot of it is simple aesthetics!

      Reply
  12. Michelle says

    April 8, 2018 at 8:58 pm

    Looks great. How far apart were the rows and columns? I am about to make a simple roman blind just like yours. I really like the look of yours folded up. My roman blind will measure 57”(h) and 39”(w). When you sew the rings the thread must come through to the front side yet i cannot see it in your pic? How did you do this? (Sorry for the caPs, can’t get the lower case to work!)

    Reply
    • Charlotte Smith says

      April 11, 2018 at 1:33 am

      Hi Michelle! Regarding the rows and columns, it’s totally aesthetic… I believe I had 4 columns of rings so one ring on either side and then 2 rings evenly spaced across the middle. For rows… it depends on how deep you want it to ‘pleat’ when you pull it up… I’m guessing mine were around 8-inches each. I’m sorry we’re in a different house now or else I’d go measure! Re. sewing the rings, I used a matching thread color and just made a tiny little series of stitches. They’re only a millimeter or so and disappear into the pattern a bit! Good luck!

      Reply
      • Michelle says

        April 11, 2018 at 10:23 am

        Thanks ChatloTte! A big Help! Putting the rings on today.😊

        Reply
  13. Cynthia Brown says

    April 10, 2018 at 9:14 pm

    i am making a shade that for a window that measurs 33 3/4” . I want to kNow if you would use 3 or 4 rings across. I made 2 other shades measuring 21 3/4 wide and used 3 rings acroSs oN those . What would do .?

    Reply
    • Charlotte Smith says

      April 11, 2018 at 1:35 am

      Hi Cynthia! I think I’d be inclined to add 4 rings across… it helps keep the shade from sagging so it can’t hurt to have a little extra! You’ll essentially have a ring every 12 inches this way (one on either edge of the shade and then two evenly space across the middle.) Good luck!

      Reply

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Lover of color, wrangler of chaos, thrifter of all the things.

head-shot-1 Hi, I'm Charlotte! I'm fixing up our 100 year old house and artfully hoarding armchairs in the garage. I love color. I love flea markets. I love a little mess. My days are spent writing, painting, sanding, laughing and negotiating with our 5 kids. You can read more about us here
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