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Bobbin Pulleys
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The best thing about using some kind of pulley (roller) instead of a screw eye, is the reduction in rubbing friction when you raise and lower the shade. Some of you are probably balking at the price ($2.00 for a pulley versus 50-cents for a screw eye). If you are handy, read the
Instructions for making your own pulleys from a "reader" of this web site.
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Terrell, As I searched about the Internet for Roman shades, I was very pleased to find your web site chock full of instructions and encouragement. Thank you! I have recently completed my first-ever set of shades, and I wanted to share my custom-build pulley system with you and your website visitors.
I got a kick out of the fact you have a PhD in Physics - I am an engineer, so my first thought about making shades was, "It can't be that hard!" Technically speaking, it wasn't difficult, but I'm a guy and I'm no seamstress although my wife freely admits I can sew better than she can. Anyway, I searched for pulleys at all the typical places and found none that I liked, so I made my own. A package of metal sewing machine bobbins ($1.05 for a package of 5 at Wal-Mart), some wood screws and my trusty table saw were all I needed. I cut a 1/2" x 1" notch out of the headboard for the full length, and after it was covered with fabric, simply screwed the bobbins on and cut off the excess screw length on the backside. I would recommend putting the screws in the full depth of the board and cutting the excess off, for strength and to reduce the risk of the screws "unscrewing" themselves.
This method is probably beyond a lot of folks, because you can't make the notch cut without a table saw. My completed assembly works very well on a large (66" wide by 72" long) shade with 5 lift lines.
Several other "readers" have sent messages that they used this technique to make their own pulleys.
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