DIY roman shade (no sewing!)

Ever since we remodeled our kitchen, I knew I wanted a roman shade for the new back door.

I may or may not have bought 6 yards of my beloved navy toile last summer at a Joann's sale, and have yet to use any of it. I knew this would be the perfect place for it. I got a quote for a custom shade, and even though I already had the fabric, it was going to be over $100. What?!? My window is only 24x38 inches!

So I searched high and low for directions on how to make one on my own. Apparently not many people DIY on the roman shades, because I couldn't find many-just kits to order.

I did find a tutorial that looked doable here. I'll admit, though, sewing the rings and the bar for the bottom looks a little daunting. Martha's was even confusing. This one, though, was perfect. Jenny is an absolute genius!

I'll share my take on her brilliant tutorial.

This is how the window has been looking lately. If newspaper and painter's tape ever becomes a style, I'm covered. Who knows what kind of scary bad guys are lurking out there, looking at me through the kitchen window?



What you'll need for this project:

vinyl mini-blinds cut to size for your window
fabric (I would reccomend home decorator fabric for its extra heft, but I bet linen would be really pretty)
Heat n Bond iron-on adhesive, less than 1 inch thick
fabric glue

And here's what I did...

My window is 24x38, so I cut my fabric 26x40 to be safe and to allow for 1 inch hems.



I folded all the edges over 1 inch and ironed them.



I then ironed in Heat n Bond to make a hem. I love this stuff! Whenever I can, I use the iron-on adhesive instead of fabric glue. It's easier, there's no mess, and I don't have to wait for it to dry.



I folded in the corners to make a smooth finished edge, so I wouldn't have an excess folded fabric overlapping the edges.

I folded the corner down...



Tucked it in...



And ironed it again.



After my edges were finished, I marked the back side of the fabric every 9.25" or so. This is where the slats will be glued. If you have to fudge it by fractions of an inch because your window size doesn't divide easily, no one will ever know.



Depending on how many folds you want and the size of your shade, you may have more or less.



Then I needed to prepare the mini-blinds.

I (obviously) didn't already have any for my window, so I bought mine at Menard's for $10.99, and they cut them (widthwise) to size right in the store for me for free. I had to adjust the length myself, which was surprisingly easy. If you are just revamping a set of blinds already hanging in your window, forget about this.

First, pop out the circular stops on the bottom bar.







Snip the cord above the stops. Snip enough of the cord so when it is fully extended, it's the length of the window plus a few inches to knot it again. (If you buy a new set of mini-blinds to do this project, there are much clearer directions in the box.)



Save the stops to reattach later.



Then snip the ladder cord out of the slats. Be careful not to cut the pull cord that you just trimmed off the bottom.



Unlace the unnecessary slats and the bottom bar. Save the bottom bar and enough of the slats for each fold you marked (I needed 4). Reattach the bottom bar.



After the blinds are ready, start gluing the fabric. The tutorials say to use fabric glue and not hot glue. I think it's because the hot glue will start to disintegrate after sitting in the sun for so long.



I started with the top bar...





And then went on to the slats. Be careful not to glue the cord, or the shade won't work.



My kitchen door is metal, so rather than wait for Hubby to mount the brackets for me, I found these super strong magnets at the hardware store and used them instead.



I attached them with epoxy glue.





And let them dry overnight before hanging them. (Actually I waited about 20 minutes, tried hanging the shade, the glue let loose, the shade fell, and then I let them dry overnight.)



And here's the finished product.



I'm really happy with it.





The one layer of fabric is just enough to filter the light and keep the bad guys from looking in my window at night. I think I may add a layer of blackout fabric for a liner later on. If I were to put a shade like this in a bedroom, I would definitely add the extra layer right away.

And the mom in me will remind anyone hanging a shade to make sure the pull cords are up and out of reach of little hands.