I'm on the home straights now and have made the final Roman blind for now. I will make others for other rooms but that's it now for this round of renovations.
I will start with the equipment you need. Obviously a sewing machine. I used a blind kit and they are available just about anywhere. They come in set sizes but can be cut down to the size you want. I used a 120cm blind kit and a note pad and pencils, tape measure, scissors, pliers, hack saw and pins.
To start, measure your window and then work out your seam allowances. I allowed 10cm for each vertical seam and 15cm for the horizontal seams. I allowed for a doubled folded seam so I wouldn't have any raw edges on display.
I cut and tore my fabric to two metre in length and 124cm in width.
You can see below, I did get a frayed edge, but just iron and sew into the seam so you won't see it.
Woman handling two metre lengths of fabric is difficult. When I watch the staff in fabric shop, they have a ruler embedded into the cutting table. They use that to work out the length by unrolling and holding it against the ruler. I used my pencil to make a one metre length on my table and then measured out my fabric. I then cut and tore.
You can see below how I held it against the one metre mark and then pulled the fabric along, with my thumb and finger pinching the first metre so I could measure it.
Here's the fabric incase you wanted to get any. The design is called 'Truro' If you research online you can find it as cheaply as I bought it.
I got to the end of the two metres and then made my cut before I tore it. It's too easy to create a wonky edge when using scissors, the warp and weft is always straight.
I then measured my ten centimetre side seams. I folded 'by eye' but you could create pencil marks all the way down on the wrong side.
After I folded it. I measured again! Keep measuring and don't cut until you've measured at least three times!
After I got my ten centimetre seam, I then folded it in on itself so I had a double seam and the selvage couldn't be seen, or the raw edge on the other side.
I ironed and pinned and then did the same on the opposite seam. Always pin both sides and check the width before you sew. Don't rush as fabric is so expensive.
I then offered it up to the window to check that it was the right size before I sewed it. As I had only pinned it at this stage, if it had not fitted, I could have unpinned it and started again. Always check width and then sew and then length and then sew. It will save a lot of angst.
Here's a close up of the double fold.
I mitre the corner, as you would if you were folding paper around a parcel the ends are less 'lumpy' and sit smoothly by doing this. Also, when you sew it makes it easier for the layers of fabric to sit well together.
Make sure the seams are pinned. Curtains and blinds need to be 'square' and have good right angles so you don't want wonky seams.
I did the same both for the top and bottom as I did the side. I haven't lined mine.
My blind kit has five rods so I had to divide the 170cm by 6 and place the rods every 28 cm. I didn't bother with the .3. I can live with imperfection.
The blind kit has a top fixing rail and the blind connects to it with velcro tape. You will need to peel the velcro tape off and sew it to the top of the blind.
Check that you have everything in the kit and make sure you follow the instructions carefully. If you don't understand do your research, use you tube and google to do some research.
Pin the velcro tape to the top of the blind.
Sew either side of the fuzzy part of the velcro. Take your time and do this slowly, this would be a nightmare to un stitch.
Here's the finished velcro tape, stitched on either side.
As my blind is 170cm long, I had to divide it by six and place a tape for the rods every 28cm. I measured both side of the blind and made a pencil mark.
Here's how I marked the fabric. This will be hidden as it's on the wrong side of the fabric.
Here are the rod tapes. They are flattened tubes of fabric.
I Pinned it one side.
I then pinned it on the other side and when perfectly horizontal, I pinned the other side.
I pinned all of them in place before I sewed them. This allowed me to measure again and check that I used the correct measurements. As I said, don't rush this. After I had sewn them all, I then ironed on the right side.
Once all the rod tapes are sewn down, then I inserted the rods and trimmed them to fit.
Here are the clips that hold the cord. The little skeleton face pieces, tie the cords off at the end.
The simply clip on and then you can slide them left of right to get them into position.
It's then a case of following the instructions to thread the cords in place.
The bottom of the blind has a thick plastic bar to weight the bottom of the blind, you will need to cut this to size with a hack saw as you will the aluminium bar at the top which secures the blind. I place it on a chair, weight it down with my knee and push my weight against it to hold it in place.
My sewing room now has a Roman blind and there's just the curtains to make.
I hope that helped.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxx