Sew Lift Rings on Top-Down Shade
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Use the Headrail to mark the locations of your Bottom-Up lift rings. Lay the shade face down on your work table (the lining is facing you). Position the headrail so that the front of the board (the side with the Velcro on it) is facing down, with the pulleys or screw eyes pointed towards the bottom of the shade. Move the mounting board so that it is lying along the top of the bottom batten.
Note that the drawing to the left is NOT a Top-Down shade. You do NOT have loop fastener at the top of your shade. I simply pasted the drawing from the Classic Shade directions. A new drawing is coming, but you can see how you use the mounting board to mark the lift ring locations.
You have two sets of lift rings for your Top-Down shade. The first set contains most of the rings that are used to guide the shade as it folds. The second set is the Top-Down rings which are sewn behind the Stiffener Pocket.
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If you are not using battens, use a tape measure on each side of the shade and position mounting board so that the pulleys or screw eyes line up along the lowest fold line (the Lower Drop.) You will be using the BACK pulleys or screw eyes. Those are the ones closest to you and furtherest away from the shade. Make a small pencil mark on the lining of the shade in the center of each pulley. This mark will be right on top of the batten. After you have marked the lowest row of lift rings, move the mounting board up, skipping every other batten, and mark the location of the remaining rows of lift rings. Your top batten will not have lift rings. Let me stress this point: there will be lift rings on only half of the battens (or fold lines). These are the Up Folds. If you sew rings on every batten, your shade will automatically make additional folds in-between the battens.
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Now mark one more row of rings using the Bottom-Up pulleys. These should be somewhere near the top of the shade, but BELOW the Stiffener Pocket. You will pass the Bottom-Up lift cord through these rings to keep the top of the shade from “falling out” into the room when you lower the shade. |
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Sew the lift rings in place on the back of the shade, using thread that matches the front fabric in each location. Repeating the instructions from above: the rings will be sewn on every other batten, beginning at the lowest batten. First tack the ring to the lining only, then continue sewing the ring on by looping the thread through the front fabric and back to the lining around the internal battens. The stitches will show on the front of the shade, but you should be able to make the visible portion less than 1/4". |
I always try to use upholstery or carpet & button thread when sewing on the lift rings. It is thicker and stronger than regular all-purpose thread. The only drawback is that it only comes in about 30 colors. You can purchase this thread (in a limited number of colors) in our Online Store. If I am using this heavy thread, I attach the ring to the shade using 3 stitches (not counting first tacking the ring to the lining). In other words, I stitch through the front side of the shade and back to the lining 3 times. On the bottom row of lift rings, I use 5 stitches. The lift cords will be tied to the bottom row of rings, so these need to be attached really well. If my fabric front is an unusual color (such as lavender) and I can’t find a heavy-duty thread to match, I double the number of stitches I use to 6 for the upper rows of rings and 10 for the lowest row of rings.
It is a bit awkward to sew on the lift rings if you do it on your work table. If you like to sew on your lap, be sure to pin the layers together on your work table before doing that. I suspend my shade from a beam when I sew on the rings. In order to use this approach when you are making a Top-Down shade, you have to sew the Top-Down rings on first. Those instructions are given below so read the entire page and then return here. I have a beam in my workroom to which I have inserted screw eyes. I tie a short string to the Top-Down lift rings and then to a matching screw eye in the beam. I then stand behind the shade to sew on the rings. I use a ladder or chair to reach the higher rings. I also always start sewing at the top row of rings. Once I have sewn one row, I inspect the front of the shade to make sure I don’t have any puckers.
You may notice that the marks you made for your lift rings no longer fall on top of the battens when you hang it up. If this happens, be sure to sew your rings on top of the battens. You can usually just adjust the location visually. Another comment on sewing rings on long shades. When I first started using the suspended-shade technique, I would tack the ring in place, jab the needle through to the front of the shade, climb down the ladder, walk around to the front of the shade, jab the needle back to the backside of the shade around the batten and lift ring, walk around to the back of the shade, climb the needle and continue on. Great exercise but it sure did take a long time to sew on those rings. I discovered that I could fold the shade up into the crook of my left hand and use my right hand to sew on the ring from the back side of the shade. Try it, it works great.
You are ready to mark and sew on your Top-Down rings.
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Use a hand saw to cut the Stiffener Board 1/4” shorter than the Finished Shade Width of the Stiffener Pocket. Slip the Stiffener Board into the pocket and whip-stitch both sides closed. Do this before you sew on your rings.
Use the Headrail to mark the location of the Top-Down lift rings. Once again, lay the shade face-down on your work surface with the lining facing up. Position the Headrail so that the front of the board (the side with the Velcro) is facing down. Move the mounting board so that it is directly on top of the shade. You are marking the location of the Top-Down pulleys or screw eyes. These are at the front side of the board, the ones closest to the shade. Make a small pencil mark, or use a straight pin (as show in the photograph) on the Stiffener Pocket at the center of each Top-Down pulley. |
Sew the Top-Down lift rings right at the top edge of the stiffener pocket. The top edge of the pocket is defined by the stitch line, which is ½” down from the top of the fabric shade. It is VERY important that the top edge of the ring be at the top edge of the pocket. Your top stitches should be slightly offset. You will be tying a lift cord onto this ring and the cord will pull up from the top of the shade. Don’t stitch the ring down at the center top edge of the lift ring. The knot that secures this cord to the lift ring will be hidden by the 1/2" flap of fabric. DON’T SEW THE RINGS AT THE TOP EDGE OF THE FABRIC. If you do, you have defeated the purpose of adding that little flap of fabric and your knot will show when you lower the shade. Be sure that you have the Stiffener Board in the pocket. It is a little awkward to sew on the rings, but if you try to do it before inserting the board, you will invariably sew the pocket together.
Continue with the instructions by scrolling up and clicking on the next topic "Insert Weight Rod" in the left-hand Navigation Column.
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