Ultimate DIY Shades

Marie Alice used three different ribbons to trim the bottom. She sewed the ribbon on after hemming the front fabric and before she did the side seams. There are two ribbons sewn on side-by-side and then a thrid one on top in the center. Here is message that Marie Alice sent along with her photographs: BIG THANKS for your great design! It is easy to understand, the videos are very helpful, and your step-by-step instructions make it easy to sew professional-looking Roman shades. Attached are pictures of the shades I made for my house. It was built in 1953 by my Uncle Wilfred for his sister Sophie. She died two days before her 100th birthday and I purchased the family home from my mother. I’ve spent time fixing up the house. My carpenter has his doctorate in physics. He has come up with very interesting ideas. When I found your site with your unique design, it did not surprise me that you too have a degree in physics.

The windows are very shallow and my choices were large drapes or Roman shades. The costs of each are high but your Roman shade hardware is very reasonably priced. You made the process of purchasing what I needed very easy with your calculator. You even double-checked my calculations when I ordered the items by telephone. That was even more reassuring. I am not a seamstress and I sew on my grandmother’s Singer Treadle Sewing Machine. As you can see from the photographs, Marie Alice has certainly become an accomplished seamstress.

Here I took my old gauze curtains and purchased muslin for the backing. I used three rows of ribbons and sewed buttons across the bottom. I glued the internal battens to the muslin lining so that the glue did not show on the front gauze fabric. The light weight shades gives lots of light to the room but still privacy when closed. I used seam binding to contain the raveling.

Marie Alice added 3-inches rather than 2-inches to the Finished Shade width when cutting out the gauze fabric. She found that the material seemed to shrink and didn't seem stiff enough to hold the width. She used one of our weight bars at the bottom of the shade but inserted it into the hem of the lining rather than into the hem of the front fabric. She then hand sewed the front panel to the back along the to of the ribbon to keep the buttons from creating a sag.

Marie Alice used beige embroidery thread and silver metallic embroidery thread to attach the buttons. She also made the pillows. Some of the small ones were made from her stepmother's wedding dress. I told you this is the ultimate DIY project.

My bedroom has three windows. I like it dark when I sleep so I lined the shades with blackout material. I took my old beige dining room curtains (2 panels), dyed them green, cut them into 6 panels and used 2 panels for each of the three windows. It was still too narrow, so I had a remnant of another fabric which I cut into three panels and used as the center. I used dark sage green velvet ribbons to hide the seams of the panels. I machine sewed the ribbons along each edge.

My Living Room/Dining Room shades were the most difficult because I was reusing my shears. I did not know how to do this until I read your newsletter on your trip to France and how they made a little pocket for the battens. That was it! I was so excited and started to sew away.

I used ThermalSuede lining. I made the pockets in the Thermalsuede before sewing the side seams. I added 1-inch to the lining length for each pocket. When assembling the shade, I sewed one side seam then I used seam binding to cover the seam for a finished look because I could see the seam through the shear. I put the battens in the pockets and then sewed the second side seam. I had added that extra inch to the cut width of the front fabric and the lining, which helped give room to move the battens over while I sewed on the second seam binding.

Marie Alice placed the weight bar in the lining for these shades as well and hand sewed the front and back panels together at the bottom.