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When we first bought our house a little over a year ago (time flies!) one of the things I immediately loved was the thick white casing around our windows and doors. I have always loved flowing, floor-to-ceiling curtains but I knew with our windows I didn't want to hide the original, unique casing.
After looking into a few options for what I could do, I decided on roman shades. I have never purchased this type of window covering but knew any window covering could get pricey. My initial thought was to do a natural bamboo or woven shade but after looking into them I realized my instinct was correct, they were out of our price range.
In a hunt for alternatives I came across a few DIY tutorials on how to make your own roman shades. I loved this idea because it allowed me to not only save those precious renovation dollars but also choose the exact fabric I wanted-- a win, win in my book!
Picking a fabric
I started out by looking for inspiration on Pinterest. Some of the ones that I pulled inspiration from were classic neutrals and stripes.
Here are some that I still love! How cute is the checkered pattern?!
After doing more research I was somewhat timid to do a pattern because if it was ended up crooked, we would have some big problems! But, I ended up falling for a patterned fabric at JoAnn's that I couldn't resist.
If you love a fabric but need the shades to be thicker to block out more light (for a bedroom instead of a living room), add an extra layer of white fabric to the inside of your shades. Simply attach it during your hemming stage!
Creating the shades
We already had existing blinds throughout the house so I was able to use those in making my roman shades. I knew I wanted them inside the window frame so the casing was still showing and the existing blinds were already hung there so it made it really simple. If this is not the case for you, you will need to decide if you want to hand the shades on the inside your window frame, above it or on the outside.
1. Measure your window frame. Once you have chosen your fabric (or while you are choosing your fabric), measure it out to ensure that it is both wide enough and long enough to cover your window. For mine, I measured from the inside of the window casing where the shades were already hung.
** important: Once you have measured your window frame, add 2 inches so that you will have enough fabric on the edges to create a clean hem.
2. Prepping the blinds. Extend the blinds all the way so they are their full length. on the back of the blinds, you will notice two different sets of cord. The lift cord is the cord that runs through the holes of the blinds, you need that cord, do not cut the lift cord. The ladder cords allow the blinds to be tilted to let in more light or less, these are the cords you will need to cut.
Cut along the "rungs" of the ladder and then at the top and bottom to separate them from the blinds. Once the ladder cords are gone, the blind slats will be able to move freely up and down the lift cords.
On the bottom of the blinds you will find 2 plugs that hold in the lift cords, remove the plugs and expose the ends of the lift cords. Untie the knots so that you are able to remove the base & blind slats.
3. Determine what size folds you want. Folds in roman shades look nice anywhere from 8"-12" wide. Mine are only 6" wide and I wish I would have done them further apart for a droopier and more relaxed effect, you live and you learn! To determine how many folds you want, take the length of your window divided by the fold width you would like (between 8"-12"). Once you have determined what that number is, remove all the blind slats except for one less than that number. For example, if you determine you need 6 folds, remove all the blind slates except 5.
4. Size the blinds. Move the base of the blinds to the length you need your shades to be and tie of your cords. Cut off the excess below the knot and replace the plugs.
5. Remove the tilt rod & hook. At the top of the blinds there is a hook that holds the rod that allows the blinds to open & close by tilting. In order for the shades to lay flat, you must remove this hook.
6. Cutting your fabric. Cut your fabric to the size of your window leaving 2" extra on all sides for hemming.
7. Hem your fabric. I simply folded over the extra fabric and hot glued it into place. There are also hemming strips you can buy and iron into place or if you want to sew them you can as well. I am lazy so I just hot glued. :)
8. Lay your fabric face down on a flat surface and lay your blinds face down on top of your fabric, lining up the top, bottoms & sides. Evenly space your blind slats on the fabric, including the slat as a part of your measurement (if your slats are 9" apart, include the slat in the 9", don't just measure the space between the slats).
9. Glue the fabric onto the blinds. Start with the top of your blinds and work your way down, ensuring that your fabric and slats are perfectly straight (you don't want to end up with a crooked shades!). I glued along the whole length of the slats to make sure it wasn't going anywhere. ***be sure to not glue down the cord or else your shades won't be able to open! Leave about 1/2 inch on either side for safe measure!
10. Hang your new roman shades & enjoy!
I love the way our roman shades turned out and get a lot of compliments and questions about them. Plus they are a lot more cost effective than buying store bought shades and you can get them in any style you choose!