How-to Sew a Roman Blind

After some trial and error the second Roman blind is finished!

 It is hanging in my daughter's room, but after removing the drapes I am realizing the blind looks lonely. So drapes will get hung back up, but first the rod is going to get a makeover {and the paint colour isn't working for me... it looked fantastic in her old room but it reads too purple in this room, another thing to add to the to-do list}

If you are dying to make a fully functioning Roman blind, the instructions are below. Don't let all the photos and steps scare you away. It does look daunting but I tried to be as thorough as possible so you won't have to "guess" your way through like I did. Once you make one, you will realize how easy they are to make. The most important thing I can't stress enough, is to be precise in your measurements. 

Remember the old saying," measure twice, cut once!"

Here is the first blind I made, yes, it is the $%#@ blind. I made this one using information that I found in bits and pieces from the internet and my drapery book.

Dying to make one for yourself and save yourself $$?

 Have no fear, if you can sew a straight stitch on your sewing machine, then you can do it!

Supplies:

Fabric of your choice. {I highly recommend a good heavy weight fabric with a tight weave}

I wouldn't make a blind wider than the width of the fabric. If your window is wider than that, you should make two blinds to sit side-by-side.

Lining. {I used black out lining in order to keep the room dark but there are various types you can use. I highly recommend using a lining as then your blind won't be see-thru, it will look professionally made}

#1: Piece of wood, about 1" x 2", cut to the desired width of your blind, this will be what you use to mount your blind to the window frame

#2: Piece of wood, about 1/4" x 1", cut 1/2" less than the width of your blind, this will be inserted at the bottom of the blind to give it support and hold its shape.

#3: Wooden dowels, about 4-5, 5/16"" thick, cut 1/2 " less than the desired width your blind . If the finished width of your blind is going to be 48", then  cut the dowels to 47 1/2 ". 

This is where my saga began, my windows were wider than 48", the longest length a 5/16" thick dowel is sold.  I searched high and low, but after exhausting my resources I chose to use garden bamboo, purchased at my local garden centre. {Thanks Mel!}
Make sure you find the straightest and even thickness bamboo.

#1: Mounting brackets, to hang up the blind to window

#2: Eye hooks, around 4-5

#3: Small plastic rings, I used 16. 

#4: Nylon cording, about 5 times the length of your blind.

#5: Cleat, you will only need this if you aren't using a cord lock.

#6: 1 1/2- 2" wide twill tape, about 5 times the width of you blind. These will be used to make dowel pockets. OR you can make your own tape, cutting strips of fabric or lining and folding in a hem along the length of the strip.

  

Cord lock. This is optional but it eliminates the need for a cleat to hold the cords in place so the blind will stay drawn. {I decided on this towards the end of making my blind, photos are near the end}

Staple gun

Thread, needle, pins and coordinating thread

1. Before you begin, you  need to decide if you want an outside mount or inside mount blind.

Outside mount {a blind that sits outside of the window frame}:

{33 Shades of Green, another fabulous Roman shade tutorial}

Or

Inside mount {one that fits inside the window frame}:

2. Measure the dimensions of the window. If you want an inside mount, you need to be precise in your measurements so that it will fit perfectly. For an outside mount you need to determine how much you want the blind to sit outside of the frame. 

Then add 4 inches to the width and 6 inches to the length of your desired finished measurements. These will be your cutting measurements.

My blind is going to be 40"long by 58" wide, so my cutting measurements would be 46" long by 62" wide. 

3. Lay out your fabric and using a square ruler, measure and cut out your fabric.

4. Using the same measurements, cut out your lining.

5. Using an iron, iron a hem on 3 sides of your blind; the bottom and sides. Leave the top part un-hemmed. To get nice crisp corner for your blind follow my steps below. {1} Iron each edge, {2} unfold {3} iron the corner over just to the point where the arrow is pointing, it is the point where the two folds met. {4} Finally, iron back the edges along the original ironed edge. 

6. Do the same with the lining. Ironing a hem only on 3 edges, leaving the top edge un-hemmed.

7. Lay out your ironed fabric on a flat surface

8. Lay the lining on top with wrong sides {hemmed sides}together.

9. Re-measure the width of your blind just to make sure it is "square", make any adjustments to the hems with the iron if needed. 

{This is an easy step to overlook, but it can save you a headache in the end if the blind is too big or too small for the window!}

10. Pin all the edges of the lining to the fabric.

11.  Hand stitch the lining to the fabric, using an invisible stitch, being careful not to go through to the front, just catching the folded edge of the lining and the folded flap {hemmed edge} of the fabric. Alternately, you can sew the edges on the machine. I prefer to hand stitch as then the blind looks more tailored and "clean". 

12. Determine the placement of the dowel pockets. It is best to place the dowels about 10-12" apart so you get 5-6" folds. The placement of the first dowel is half of the space plus 1". So if I choose to place my dowels 10" apart, the first dowel is place 6" from the bottom edge {10/2=5 +1= 6} I know, math again, crazy! 

It is also best to have the last dowel placed about 10" from the top.

Here is a diagram I drew so you can see the dowel placement and the ring placement. I chose to place my dowels about 9" apart, as you want about 4 dowels for a blind my size and I had to fiddle with the placement in order to come close to 10".

13.  Mark the dowel pocket placement using a ruler/yardstick and a pencil. Or if you are Martha, you can use a disappearing ink pen. 

14. Measure the width of the lining, add 1" and cut 4 pieces of twill tape. These will be made into dowel pockets.

15. Iron the twill tape. {1} Iron the tape in half lengthwise {2} Fold over the ends and iron. {3} Pin the iron twill tape to the lining. Place the free {unfolded} edges along the line,  the folded edge facing the bottom edge of the blind.

16. {5} Stitch the edge of the tape {the non-folded edge} with the sewing machine, {5} sewing through the lining and fabric. I used white thread and brown thread so that the lining side was white and {6} the fabric side had coordinating thread.

17. Sew on the plastic rings to the edge of the tape. Because my blind is wide I chose to use 4 rings across the dowel pocket. I placed the rings about 2 1/2 inches from both edges and then evenly spaced the two middle rings and that they line up, up the blind. I think for most blinds, 3 vertical rows of rings would be enough. 

See diagram.

18. Slip the flat wood piece {1/4" x 1"}, cut 1/2" shorter than the width of the blind, into the bottom edge hem. Stitch the corner closed.

19. Slip the dowels, {cut just slightly shorter than the width of the lining} into the twill tape pockets.

20. Stitch the ends closed.

21. Wrap the wood that will be used for mounting the blind with a scrap of lining or fabric. Use a staple gun to hold it in place.

22. Mark the placement of where the batten board will sit. I marked off the top of where my blind will be {the finished height of my blind}. You do this by measuring from the bottom. Since my finished height of my blind is 40", I drew a line 40" from the bottom edge of the blind.

23. Line the mounting board with the staple side facing up the blind along the marked line {where the arrow is pointing} Then lay the board down, staples side is down and now the line is below the board. You can staple the fabric to the top of the board and roll it back up.  You will find the board then lines up perfectly .

24. Mark the placement of the eye hooks by moving the board down to the first dowel pocket, using the plastic rings as guides.

25. Screw in the eye hooks. Since I made 4 vertical rows of plastic rings {see the diagram}, then there will be 4 eye hooks lined up along the mounting board.

26. Now you are going to start threading the nylon cord. Determine which side you want the cords to be pulled from, then start from the farthest row of rings.  I measured the length of the blind, plus the width, plus some excess so you have cord hanging to pull {about 1/2 the height of the blind}. I then cut that length of the cord. 

27. Tie the cord to the bottom ring, then thread through all the vertically placed rings running up the blind to the eye hook that is vertically placed as well. Then thread the string through all the eye hooks that are along the top of the mounting board. Letting the excess string lay to the side.

28. Cut lengths for all the other vertical rows. Everytime it will be shorter as you will need less horizontal length of cord. I found that by taking the cord and laying it out loosely to my desired length and then cutting was easiest. Do that for the remaining vertical rows of rings. You can refer to my drawing to get an idea of what I mean.

29. Leave the excess cord laying to one side. Now you will either mount a cord lock or another eye hook to channel all the cords together. This is how you will open and close the blind. If you use a cord lock then you won't need a cleat, unless you want a tidy way to hang the cords. For this blind I chose to use a cord lock, but with the black and white striped blind I just used another eye hook, but then a cleat is necessary to hold the cords in place so your blind will stay up in place.

30. If using a cord lock, then you will need to screw on the mounting bracket first. If you want to use the eye hook option, photos are at the end of this tutorial. If you are making an outside mount blind, the the brackets will be placed not at the ends of the board but along the back.

31. Now screw the cord lock on top. Making sure the placement is correct. There are "wires" on the top. The cut ends face to the outside of the blind {see the  2nd following photo} and.....

 the "folded" end faces inside the blind. This is important, you want the locking system to lock the "right" way.

32. You are going to thread all the cords through this.

33.  The best way to thread the cords through is to hold the blind up so the cord lock is hanging down and thread the cords in, the small "roll" will open up and they thread in quite easily.

34. Screw the second mounting bracket on the opposite end of the board. You may need to make adjustments once it is up. I realized I had a gap, so I had to move the bracket over a bit.

35. Hang up the blind using the mounting brackets to your window frame.

Alternatively, instead of a cord lock {I am finding with the weight of this blind, the cords on the far end of the blind keep slipping} you can use an eye hook screwed to the end of the board to channel all the cords in one place. If you choose to use this, then you will need a cleat mounted along the window frame to hold the cords so the blind will stay in place.

It will take a few times to "train" the fabric to fold. Just guide the fabric along, eventually it will "remember" and fold on it's own!

Phew! 

I think that is it!

If you are so confused and puzzled, please feel free to email me any questions. I would be more than happy to help!

barbaras{dot}hodgepodge{at}yahoo{dot}ca

If you do end up tackling this project, I would love to see photos so I can share them on my blog!

What are you up to this weekend? My husband rides in an epic mountain bike race so I am heading up there to watch.

Come back Sunday for another installment of "So Canadian,eh?"

my list of talented Canadians is growing!

XO Barbara

*visiting:

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest