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Joining Fabric Widths for Wide Shades
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If the required Cut Width of your fabric and/or lining is wider than the width of your fabric, you will have to join two or more fabric widths. Standard practice is to place one full width in the center of the shade and two smaller widths on each side. This is shown in the drawing above. If you will have a lift line running down the center of the shade, it is okay to have a center seam instead. I use a 1/4" seam and press to one side. Don't press the seam open since you might see light through it.
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What if your fabric is just a little bit narrower than your shade? Let's say you are making a 56" wide shade and your fabric is 54" wide. It will look pretty silly having a 1" panel on each side of your shade. That will also make sewing your side seams very difficult. I like to have at least 6" side panels. For a 56" wide shade, I would use 6", 44" and 6" panels. That adds up to 56-inches. You do have to add the seam allowances. The side panels would be cut 7.25" wide (6" + 0.25" seam + 1" side seam ) if everything were perfect, while the center panel would be cut 44.5" (44" + 0.25" seam + 0.25" seam) wide. However, fabric never sews up perfectly. I cut the center panel to the exact size (44.5" in this case) and I add at least 1-inch to each side panel. That way, if my seam doesn't press completely flat or my one-quarter inch seam is a little bit more than one-quarter inch, my completed front panel won't be too small. After sewing the side seams and pressing the seams out, I put a straight pin at the center of the panel at both the top and bottom of the shade, measure out half the distance for the cut panel (58/2 = 29" in our example) and trim the excess fabric at each side.  An even easier way to do this is to fold the panel vertically so that the two side seams are laying on top of each other. Measure over half of the cut-width (29" in our example) and trim both sides with one cut. I use the same rules when joining widths for the lining. However, if I can turn the lining side-ways and "bury" a seam in the hem, I do that. I still use a 1/4" seam and press to one side.
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