DIY: Roman Shades

The prospect of making my own roman shades was a daunting task to me.  A far cry from my first window treatment project of simple panels.  However, I quickly learned that the roman shades were much easier than the panels. Is that possible?  Yes it is and I will tell you why.  First of all when you sew panels you have to sew two for every window.  That is double the fabric, double the money, and double the time.  Double yuck!!  I loved that I only had to sew three roman shades - that's all.  Secondly, I decided to line the panels, well, you're suppose to line them and for me that proved to be a challenge.  Lining up the fabric and making sure it was all smooth and taut was next to impossible.  Perhaps it was because I had to sew double of everything and got really burned out but most of my panels gathered a little funny at the bottom because either the lining is longer than the fabric or the fabric is longer than the lining.  It looks horrendous but at this point I am just glad they are done.  Needless to say I learned a lot of lessons from sewing the panels and was relieved to find that I experienced zero, nada, none, zip problems with the roman shades.  

If you're interested here is how I made them.

Materials:

Fabric

Wood Dowels 

Drapery Rope

Eye Hooks

1x2 Plank

Small plastic rings

First of all measure your windows.  (I had two windows that were the same size and one that was not.)  Once you have your window measurements, figure out your fabric measurements.  For all roman shades the first tier is 12" and then each tier after that is 9".  

Now you have to do some simple math:  I subtracted 12 from the window height and then divided that number by 9 to get how many 9" tiers your window will need.

  48

- 12

_______

 36

 36/9

_______

4

So....

12"

9"

9"

9"

9"

_______

48"

Once you know how many 9" tiers, you will have to add 1" in between every tier to accommodate for the wood dowel pockets you will sew.

So it would look like this:

12"

1"

9"

1"

9"

1"

9"

1"

9"

_______

52"

Lastly add 4" to this for your top and bottom hem.

3"

12"

1"

9"

1"

9"

1"

9"

1"

9"

1"

_______

56"

Just add 1" to the width of the window to get your measurement for the fabric.

So the final fabric measurement would be 56"x34".

Confused yet?  I promise that is the worse part of this whole project.  Who likes math and thinking?

I feel like a broken record but iron your fabric before you measure and cut it.  It really makes a big difference.

Then hem it up on the sides and bottom.  Leave the top un-hemmed.  You won't need it.

Once everything is hemmed, it is time to measure for the pockets.  Start at the bottom since that is a hemmed edge.  Measure 9" up on the reverse side and mark with a pencil across.  Then measure 1" and mark again with a pencil.  Continue that following the pattern we figured out above - specific for your window.  

When I did this I also marked the middle of the 1" sections to make folding and pinning it easier.  To create the pocket you fold in that 1" section so that the pocket is on the reverse side and front side is smooth.

This is the backside of the fabric.

Cut your wood dowels to size (the width of the shade) and slip them in each pocket for support and structure.

Next sew the small plastic rings into the back of each of these pockets.  Sew two onto each pocket, 4" from the edge on each side.

Then it is time to prep the 1x2 piece of wood that will hold the shade in place.  Cut the wood to width so it will fit in your window.  I love power tools!

Next wrap the fabric around the wood and staple it in place so that you maintain the 12" tier.

Then screw in the eye hooks on the top and bottom of the wood, this is also 4" in from each edge.

After this is assembled it is time to attach the drapery rope and create the pulley system.

Follow this diagram:

You will need two separate pieces of rope a little longer than the shade.  String one side through the top eye hook and each ring and knot it on the bottom ring.  Do the same to the other side but string that through both eye hooks so that when you pull on both strings the shade draws up.

To finish attach a drapery pull to the end.

To install simply secure the top eye hooks on nails attached above the window and that is all.

Now this is a pretty primitive shade so it will not simply stay up on it's own so you will have to install some sort of hook to hold the cord in place when it is drawn.  I bought these from the hardware store.  It is similar to what is used to tie up boats on the dock.

And here is the finished product.

I really love it!

Please let me know if you try this roman shade for your home.  I would love to hear what you did and how it worked for you.  I am not the best at explaining so let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks for stopping by.

I shared this with the great readers of Freckled Laundry.  Check out her blog and all the other inspiring projects being linked up.