No Sew Roman Shade

First of all, I want to say that if this post doesn’t make sense, it’s because I have a cold, and I just took some NyQuil! :)

Any-whooooo

I have a “to do” list a mile long. Wanna look-see?

*slipcover the couch in the guest house

*make a shower curtain for guest house bathroom

*make curtains for guest house bedroom windows

*put bunk beds in Adam’s room so Eli can move in

*turn Eli’s room in to my new craft room

*paint my office

*re-do my entire master bedroom, and on, and on, and on….

So what do I do this week?

I see a great idea of how to make No Sew Roman Shades on Monday, and all of a sudden it becomes a new project that jumps to the top of my “to do” list!

I’ve got issues. Serious issues.

I saw this post from Frugal Home Ideas on how to make a No Sew Roman Shade. I thought it would be great for my office.

The problem is that I have been shoving things into my office since the beginning of the holiday season. It looks like this now…

IMG_5146

Yup. That’s it.

I was planning on cleaning it up, painting the walls my favorite color, (Khaki Shade by Sherwin Williams), and sprucing it up before I showed it to you.

Too late now.

We installed the faux wood blinds when we bought the house 5 years ago. However, I’ve been too lazy to shorten the blinds, and they were just a bit too long.

IMG_5148

Wow, I’m just letting it all hang out here, aren’t I?

So, here’s what I did.

I took the blinds down and laid them on the floor.

IMG_5149

I numbered the blinds so I could see which ones I wanted to keep. I was keeping every 5th blind.

IMG_5150

Then I carefully cut the string below each of the blinds that I didn’t want to keep. You do NOT want to cut the pull strings!

IMG_5153

Then I took the bottom piece off of the blinds.

IMG_5154

And slid all of the blinds off.

IMG_5155

At this point, I was questioning if I had any idea whatsoever what I was doing. But I persevered.

I put every 5th blind back on the strings, and when I hung them back up, they looked like this.

IMG_5156

I used some off-white material and some black-out lining that I already had to make my shade.

I cut the black-out lining an inch and a half wider than the blinds, and about a foot longer than the window.

IMG_5157

Then I laid the black out lining on top of my material and used it as a pattern.

IMG_5158

Now the next step may have not been necessary, but I did it anyway.

I used a double-sided fusion lining to attach the material to the black-out lining. I followed the instructions on the fusion lining.

IMG_5159

I laid the fusion lining on the material like this.

IMG_5160

I used my iron to attach the fusion lining.

IMG_5161 />

Then I pulled back the paper part of the fusion lining.

IMG_5163

And then I ironed my material to the black-out lining causing the two pieces to stick together. (Like I said, I don’t know if this was necessary.)

IMG_5165

Next, I laid the blind on top of the back of my curtain.

IMG_5166

I used fabric glue to glue the material to the top bar of the blinds.

IMG_5168

Make sure you do not glue the material to the outside two inches of the top bar or you won’t be able to put it back into the brackets in the window.

IMG_5169

I flipped each blind over and applied my fabric glue. Then I flipped the blind back over and pressed it to the material.

IMG_5170

Make sure you do not get glue on any of the strings or it won’t work properly.

Then I turned the sides of the material over about a half inch…

IMG_5173

Put some hot glue on each blind…

IMG_5174

Flipped the material over again on top of the hot glue.

IMG_5175

I did this all the way down the side of the curtain creating a hem.

IMG_5176

IMG_5172

I pressed over the hem to make it more crisp.

IMG_5178

Then I put the shade back into the brackets.

IMG_5179

The extra material that I didn’t glue down laid perfectly over the bracket.

IMG_5180

I then used my glue gun to create a hem on the bottom of the blind.

IMG_5181

I tied a knot with all the strings on the bottom blind.

IMG_5182

I used my hot gun to attach the fringe.

IMG_5184

And I was finished!

I am pleased with how it turned out, but it definitely clashes with the yellow on my walls. Now I am going to have to add “painting the office” up to the top of my “to do” list.

IMG_5196

IMG_5203

IMG_5189

IMG_5199

IMG_5197

Okay, that’s it.

I finished a project that I had no idea I was going to be doing this week. I’ve got to stop looking at other blogs…you guys inspire me too much and get me off track! :)

The NyQuil is kicking in really good now, and I am getting ready to crash.

Goodnight.

UPDATE (1-17-10): Now that I am feeling better, I am linking this project to all of my favorite parties….

Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts
Make your Monday at Twice Remembered
Get Your Craft On at Today’s Creative Blog

DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

50 Comments

  1. love this idea…have seen it before, but you did an excellent job documenting how to do it….thanks.

    i am planning on doing this myself soon on a kitchen window….i will be following along with your pics as i do it.

    dj

  2. I always enjoy seeing your projects. This one is great also.

    I just received a burlap tablecloth from my mom that she made using your pattern. Thank you soooo much for making this available so that I can now enjoy my very own. I love it! If you are interested and when you feel better, maybe you could check it out at my blog, All Things Home.

    Hope you feel better very soon. God bless.

  3. Oh I so love the photo of your office in all it's glory, that's what I call keeping it real!…my husband has threatened to post photos of the "unstaged" areas of rooms I have photographed, on my blog,eek.
    Fantastic job on the blind.It looks so good, especially with the fringe. I,too,have wooden slat blinds that hang way too long and can't be bothered shortening them.
    Angex

  4. You INSPIRE me!!! I am forever grateful for your most wonderful ideas and talents. I should tell you that you have sparked my interest in sewing again (although this project is all about NO SEW) — but all your others — so breathtaking. Sewing is such a lost art and so I thank you for all of your inspiration.

    Cheers~
    e

  5. You are too funny…I do the same ding dang thing. Get to reading blogs and skip my 'to do list'. Your shade looks marvelous! I have actually bookmarked at least 5 different blogs with instructions for making these. I want to try it for the window in my master bedroom. Now I shall add yours to the bunch :)

  6. good job! great tutorial! jumped out of the reader for just a second so I could leave a comment! I have lots to do with my living room makeover today, and must get busy!
    I want to try these someday, so I saved this post in my reader, so I won't lose it!
    thanks for the inspiration and tutorial.
    gail

  7. Wow…I am IMPRESSED! I,for one, have not seen this on any other blog, so I am even more impressed!! :)
    I want to make this but you scared me when you cut the blinds…I don't know if I could cut them then string them back up, but this idea is perfect for my bathroom window.

    Thanks for sharing

  8. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one whose list grows from reading what other bloggers are doing! I have a faux roman shade planned for this weekend, and that was only after I read the same blog you did. I love your shade! It turned out great and I like the addition of the trim at the bottom ~ very custom looking!

  9. wow! that is fabulous! I believe I have the same blinds as you. I've seen this done with the cheap mini-blinds, but I like this better with the faux wood– more substantial.

    Adding this to my list of projects!

  10. okay…SERIOUSLY!!! you are way beyond what I would attempt on this one, and I'm usually pretty daring. I had NO idea where you were going, and it looks fantastic! Good job… maybe Nyquil inspires!

    Sonja

  11. Oh! It's so beautiful. That shade is amazing! I was just about to take a picture of our office to show the mess and embarass myself into cleaning it up. Now, I blame it all on Christmas….anything out of place was thrown into the spare room/office.

  12. GREAT JOB. I would like to try this also. However, not on my (kind of new) faux wood blinds. What I would like to try it on are my very old metal mini blinds. My question to you is, "Do you think that would work"? Thanks, Tina

  13. Gosh, I think you snuck in my house and took a picture of my office complete with things all over the place, blinds which I never shortened and that wall color. :)
    The blind looks great!

  14. This is too cool. I haven't seen it before. I should do that in our bedroom, I hate that morning light when I want to sleep in. Hummm…now you got me thinking.
    Don't worry about your to do list, it'll get done and if not this month there's the next one and even the next one after that. And you know something else, if those next months don't come, well then it doesn't matter. So do what you can and relax and get rid of your cold.
    Take care Traci and have a safe and blessed weekend.

  15. I can't believe I just found you, sugar!!! I'm not even a student or neighbor and you have no idea where I live but I'm votin' for ya anyway, chick!

    You're a little slow on eating the chocolate though. I would have had it eaten by lunch time…AND all by myself!

    BUT there has GOT to be an easier way to do roman shades. I'm too lazy to do that! And my office and my craft room look just like yours. Noooo, wait, your's looks better than mine at the moment. It's on the agenda to clean….maybe next week???? Shucks, maybe today…

    Happy to have found you and met ya, sweetpea…

    xoxo,
    Connie

  16. Clever girl, using your blinds to make a roman shade. It's probably easier than starting from scratch…although, I was right with you when you had the strings laying out on the floor. "Is she going to pull this off?" It looks fantastic. My home to-do list is about 5 miles long, so I'm going to deal with the wood blinds until I get other things done. I absolutely love this look, though, and have the same problem about getting side tracked by all of the blog inspiration out there. :)

  17. I would love to do this for my bathroom blinds, it's sooo nasty that it needs to be updated badly.. but I am way to chicken to give it a try. I may have to work up my courage to give it a shot and if it fails, then I just go out and buy another cheap blinds. :)

    Thanks for the tutorial, booked marked it as faves.

  18. You shade looks great and I love the dangly little fringe at the bottom. Nice touch. Looking at all those strings on the floor I think I would have had to just walk away. What a gal you are!

  19. Okay you are officially my blogging hero!!! I've been looking for cheap woven shades for my living/breakfast/kitchen area because I too, have the white faux wood everywhere. I think I just found my solution! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I would just totally kiss you if I could!

    So a couple of questions — where do you get the blackout lining? The project looks very time consuming. About how long did it take per window? Any other tips?

    I will TOTALLY give you credit if this is the way I decide to go! Thanks again!

  20. I keep seeing this project on so many blogs. I really want some of these but I'm just not sure I can do it. You want to come make some for me? :) Yours look great! The fringe makes them extra cute.

  21. These are great. I have 2 inch ugly aluminum blinds in my bathroom. I love the idea that you can lower and raise them. Since my window faces my neighbors I would like them to be finished on the outside, so you can’t see the slats. Can you glue a liner on the back side to cover up the blinds?

  22. omg you are a genious! We have the most disgusting (in design of course not in actual condition) blinds in our master bedroom and i’ve been trying to figure out what on earth to do with them! Thank you SO much!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *