how to make roman shadesSometimes you’re just looking for a change regarding your window treatments.  Have you ever considered roman shades?  Learning how to make roman shades is simple, fast and easy when you follow step by step instructions.  The shades are elegant window treatments and the are much nicer than the standard plastic shades.

The Basics

The reason you might be considering making your own roman shades is that you desire to inject your own personal style.  You also get the benefit of a custom look without the custom price.  You can certainly go to any home improvement store to buy them or fork over a ton of money to have an interior designer custom make them for you.

We however think that you will want to make your own when you discover just how easy it is.  Think carefully about the window(s) that is going to be dressed.  Things such as where the window is located, lighting desired, window measurements are important considerations before beginning your how to make roman shades do-it-yourself project.

Since you’ll be making your own roman shades and saving tons of money you can increase your budget on the quality of fabric that you buy.  Since you’ll be taking measurements  in advance you will be sure to buy only the amount of fabric that you need.

When you measure the window be sure to measure both height and width.  You’ll need to decide if you want the shade to cover just the inside of the window frame or if you’re looking for the shade to cover more of the window then include that in your measurement.  One often overlooked area when making these tops of shades is that people  forget the measurement for the dowels.

Dowel Measurement

To determine the number of dowels you will need just divide the height of the window by six to nine inches, which is the approximate space between each dowel fold.  Find a number that goes evenly into your window’s height.

or example, if your window height is 72 inches, divide by nine.  Therefore you’ll need eight dowels for eight pleats.  Each dowel requires 1.5 inches so multiplied by eight, you’ll need to buy an extra 12 inches of fabric for making your roman shades.

Also, to mount the shade you’ll going to also need an additional six inches of fabric so in total you’re going to buy an additional 18 inches of your chosen fabric.  Next,  add this to your window’s height which will give your total window height.

Add two inches of fabric for the window’s width.  Finally you have the total amount of fabric you’ll need.  Here are a couple of online calculators that may assist you.  For a pleat calculator click here and for a yardage calculator click here.

Color as you know is also an important consideration.  If you are a beginner I would suggest keeping it simple and stay away from the more intricate patterns of fabric so as to make your pleating and stitching simpler.

However, if you’ve been sewing for awhile don’t hesitate to move up to some of the more advanced patterns.  Make sure you take pictures of the furniture and color of paint you’re trying to match so that you make sure you fabric compliments the theme of the room.

Supplies

  • Window cleats
  • Heavy duty staple gun
  • Blind cord
  • Window cleat
  • 1/2 Diameter shade rings
  • Screw Eyes
  • Wooden mounting board
  • Quarter inch window dowels
  • Yardstick
  • Chalk for a temporary marker
  • Sewing machine if you plan on adding lining.

The easiest way to make roman shades is with instructional videos as you can stop and start the videos as you go.  You get the benefit of seeing it done and then you just repeat the process.

I’ve tried to give you a good overview of what you need to do to complete your project on how to make roman shades but as you know pictures are worth a thousand words.  With a little time, creativity and patience you can make your own roman shades in no time at all.

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