Step-By-Step Lined Roman Shades – One Room Challenge Week 3

Hello friends! It’s week three of the One Room Challenge and we’re in the midst of some exciting kitchen updates. This week I’m sharing my step-by-step lined Roman shades. Have you ever wanted to make custom window treatments that are a reflection of your style? Roman shades are not only very affordable to DIY, but they’re not as complicated as you might think. In this post, I share the directions for these beautifully tailored Roman blinds.

In case you missed my first two posts for this session of the One Room Challenge (ORC), you can find my posts here:

A Modern Kitchen Update – Week One of the One Room Challenge

My New Favourite White Paint – Week Two of the One Room Challenge

I’m going to jump in with the step-by-step lined Roman shades, but at the end of this post, I’m sharing the progress I’ve made on other parts of the kitchen and what I plan to accomplish in the coming weeks.

Roman Shades

I have been making Roman shades for 20 years since I discovered they’re actually easier to make than I once thought. Basic hand sewing and sewing machine skills are all that is needed. These shades have all the beautiful finishing details that you would find in custom made blinds, including a lining, perfectly spaced folds, and an invisible header. These are outside-mount shades, but could easily be adapted to fit inside a window frame. The shade hangs from a distance above the window frame and when fully extended reaches just to the bottom of the lower window frame. The shade covers the side window frames and extends a scant ¾” past the side frames. The instructions here are for one Roman shade.

Note- my window is 47” wide from outer frame to outer frame and 40” tall from outer frame to outer frame. I wanted to hang my shade 8” above the window frame to give the illusion of a taller window. This also has the advantage of allowing more light to enter through the window as the opened shade has some height and would block part of the window if mounted inside the window.

Fabric Selection

For a Roman blind that sits outside the window frame, you will want a mid-weight fabric plus a liner in order to ensure that the window frame and wall are not visible through the shade. Cotton or linen is the best material for this project. The lining fabric is typically a light-weight cotton in white or cream if your blind is light or medium-toned, or black if your fabric is very dark. If the shade is to go in a bedroom, then you might consider adding a blackout liner. The fabric I chose is the Reflect Cotton (black) from Tonic Living.

Tools For The Step-By-Step Lined Roman Shades

• Tape measure and pencil
• Fabric scissors
• Iron and ironing board
• Fabric pins
• A variety of hand sewing needles
• Sewing machine
• Circular saw, compound mitre saw or hand saw and cutting box (alternatively have wood and dowels cut at the hardware store)
• Stud finder
• Drill and bits
• Staple gun
• Screwdriver
• Level

Supplies

• 1 by 2 pine board cut to finished shade width (outside width of the window frame plus 1½” inches)
• Five ⅜” diameter wooden dowels- cut 1½” narrower than finished shade width
• Fabric
• Cotton lining fabric 
• Thread to coordinate with fabric
• 15 plastic rings (½” diameter)
• 3 screw eyes (⅝” to ¾”)
• 1.8 mm nylon cording (purchase about 7 times the finished length of the shade)
• 1 window shade pull – this is a decorative wooden pull used to tie the cords together and provide a finishing touch to the raw ends of the cording
• 3 screws (2-3” in length)
• 1 cord wrap and mounting hardware

Instructions For The Step-By-Step Lined Roman Shades

Measuring

• Measure your window vertically and horizontally from outside frame to outside frame. Determine how far you want the blind to extend beyond the top of the window frame. Calculate your desired finished height by taking the window height and adding the extension to it. Calculate your desired finished width by taking the window width and adding 1½” to it, so the shade will extend ¾” on either side of the window frame. The next few steps will refer to the “finished height” and “finished width” we just calculated.
• Next, calculate the dimensions to cut the main fabric. To determine the cutting height, take the finished height and add 6.5” (4” for the top wrap around the mounting wood and 2.5” for the bottom hem). To determine the cutting width, take the finished width and add 5” to it to allow for 2.5” side hems.
• You will also need to calculate the dimensions to cut the cotton lining fabric. Note that the liner will be slightly smaller than the main fabric so it sits nicely behind the main fabric. Also, the liner hems are only 2” wide while the main fabric hems are 2.5”. To determine the liner height, take the finished height and subtract ½” for the bottom inset and add 6” (4” for the top mounting wrap and 2” for the bottom hem). The simplified calculation is to take the finished height and add 5.5”. To determine the liner width, take the finished blind width and subtract 1” (so the liner is inset ½” on each side) and then add 4” (to allow for 2” side hems). The simplified calculation is to take the finished width and add 3” to get the liner width.

Cutting And Pressing

• You can now cut your main fabric and lining material. If your fabric is striped or has a repeat with breaks then you will want to consider the placement of the cuts. The pattern should be centered side to side and the top of the blind should occur at a natural break in the fabric if possible. The top of the blind will be 4” from the top of the cut line, so consider where you want the top of the shade to be relative to the fabric’s pattern. Double check everything before you cut!
• Once your fabric is cut, press the bottom and side seams. Using a hot iron, fold under and press side and bottom seams of 2.5” for the main fabric and 2” for the lining fabric. Press a mitered corner for the bottom corners of the main fabric for a lovely finished detail. Pin the hems in place so that the liner is inset by ½” along the sides and bottom (wrong sides are pinned together and right sides are facing outwards).

Sewing

• Sew the liner to the backside of the main fabric using a hand stitch called the ladder stitch. Ladder stitch is invisible and rather time-consuming and this is the longest part of the project. Expect to spend an hour or so hand sewing around the sides and bottom of the shade.

• Once the main fabric and liner are sewn together, you are ready to mark your dowel lines with a pencil. I have found that the optimal spacing for the dowel rods is about 8” apart. When the shade is retracted, the result will be 4” pleats. For this reason, you will want the bottom dowel rod to be placed only 4” (rather than 8”) from the bottom of the shade. If you use the full 8” at the bottom, the result will be 4” of fabric sticking out from the bottom when the shade is retracted. For the top of the blind, I prefer the look of a more substantial pleat, so my top dowel is placed 12” from the top of the finished blind.

Attaching The Dowels

• Using a pencil, mark the position of your dowel rods as such (in distance from the bottom hem): 4”, 8”, 8”, 8”, 8” (there will be 12” from the top dowel line to the top of the finished shade). Note that the top of the finished shade is 4” below the top cut edge because this is going to be folded around the mounting piece later.  
• The dowels will be placed in fabric liner sleeves that are sewn to the liner. To make the sleeves, cut 5 strips of 3¾” wide fabric about 1” longer than the finished shade width (to allow for the sleeves to be sewn shut afterwards). Place the long edges together and fold over to form a very narrow hem. Pin in place and then sew with sewing machine to form a sleeve that is open on both ends. Repeat for all five dowel sleeves.
• Pin the five sleeves to the liner along the pencil lines. Using a sewing machine, sew along the top edge of the dowel sleeves as close to the edge of the sleeve as possible. Start and end your stitching 1” from the ends of the sleeves to allow for the sleeves to be sewn shut once the dowels are inserted.

• Next, cut the dowels to length (1½” narrower than finished shade width) if you didn’t have this done at the hardware store.
• Insert the dowels into the sleeves and hand sew the ends closed.

• Attach three rings (hand sewing) to the bottom of each dowel sleeve, with one at each end and one in the middle. There will be 15 rings in total.

Mounting And Cording

Cutting And Measuring

• Cut your wood mounting piece (1 by 2 pine) to the finished width of the shade.
• Note that the wider side of the mounting piece will be flush against the wall. The mounting piece will protrude ¾” from the wall. If your window frames protrude more than ¾” from the wall, then you will need to use a more substantial mounting piece.
• Place the mounting piece on the wall at the top edge of where the shade will be positioned. Use a level to make sure the mounting piece is level, and check to ensure that you’ve centered the piece on the window. Use a pencil to mark the position of the corners of the wood mounting piece.
• Next, use a stud finder to locate the studs under where the wood piece will be mounted. Mark the studs and transfer the markings for three studs to the mounting piece so you can pre-drill holes. Also on the wood piece, pencil in which side is facing forward and L-left and R-right sides. Drill through the three stud markings on your mounting piece.

Joining Mounting Piece And Prepared Shade

• For a finished look, staple scraps of lining fabric onto the ends of the mounting piece. This will ensure that bare wood is not visible from any angle.

• Wrap the 4” of extra fabric at the top of the prepared shade around the mounting piece and staple into place along the edge using a staple gun. You can space the staples a few inches apart. Take care that the fabric lies flat and is completely level.

Cording

• Note- these directions are for a left-sided cord mechanism.
• Attach the 3 screw eyes to the bottom edge of the mounting piece (now covered in fabric). I predrilled the holes with a  very small drill bit and hand screwed the screw eyes into place.

• Next, you are going to thread three pieces of cording through all the loops you sewed and through the screw eyes.
• Tie the first piece of cording onto the bottom loop of the bottom right ring. Feed the cord through the 4 rings directly above the bottom right ring and then through the right screw eye. Continue left with the cord, threading it through the other two screw eyes. Leave about 16” of additional cord and cut off from the cord roll.

• Tie the second piece of cording to the middle bottom loop and feed the cord through the 4 rings above this ring. Then thread the cord through the screw eye directly above. Follow the path of the first cord, leftward through the leftmost screw eye. Again, cut the cord leaving 16” excess.

• Tie the third piece of cording to the bottom left loop and feed the cord through the 4 rings above it and through the screw eye above. Cut, leaving 16” extra cord.

• Feed all three cords through the window shade pull. Knot the three cords together, trim to within ½” of the knot and pull the window shade pull over the knot to conceal it.

Attaching The Shade To The Wall

• This is the only step where help from a partner, friend, relative, or neighbour will really help. I was able to (very awkwardly) do it by myself. Only my 9-year-old was available to help and I decided to spare him.
• Roll up the shade and place the bulk of the shade on your head, shoulder, or ladder so you can get underneath the shade. The rolled-up shade must be above the marked position for the mounting hardware. Place the mounting piece (now attached to the shade) on the wall in the proper position using the pencil markings. Screw the three screws through the mounting piece and into the studs. Important- make sure you install the screws beneath the fabric shade- there shouldn’t be any screws visible once you let down the shade.
• Gently let the shade down and test out the shade mechanism by pulling on the window shade pull.
• Mount the cord wrap to the inside of the window frame to wrap the cord, which allows the shade to stay in the open, retracted position.
• Stand back and admire your work! The first time I made one of these, I marvelled at how well the mechanism worked. It was like magic.
• I hope you have enjoyed reading about these step-by-step lined Roman shades. Continue reading if you want to see what else I’ve been up to in the kitchen!

Random Bits of ORC Progress

It was a busy week, which is why I’m finishing up this post in the wee hours before midnight the night before this post is due. On the weekend, I recruited my husband to help me remove the old hood fan. It was way easier than I anticipated, but we spend the rest of the day toiling over the installation of the new hood fan insert. We installed an insert so that I can build my own hood fan cover. I currently don’t know how I’m going to do this, but I have confidence that it will come to me before this challenge is over. So, we currently have an amazing working hood fan insert but no cover.

Also, this week I ordered some incredible artwork for the kitchen and breakfast area. I can’t wait to receive the artwork and show it in the final reveal next month.

The plan for this week is to install the new light fixture above the kitchen sink and make a couple of plant stands to display my plant beauties. I also need to come up with a plan for the hood fun cover. Thank you for reading, and stay tuned! And don’t forget to check out what the other participants are doing, here.

To see week four progress: Modernizing Our Farmhouse Kitchen – Week 4 of the One Room Challenge