No Sew Roman Shade

First of all, I want to say that if this post doesn’t make sense, it’s because I have a cold, and I just took some NyQuil! :)

Any-whooooo

I have a “to do” list a mile long. Wanna look-see?

*slipcover the couch in the guest house

*make a shower curtain for guest house bathroom

*make curtains for guest house bedroom windows

*put bunk beds in Adam’s room so Eli can move in

*turn Eli’s room in to my new craft room

*paint my office

*re-do my entire master bedroom, and on, and on, and on….

So what do I do this week?

I see a great idea of how to make No Sew Roman Shades on Monday, and all of a sudden it becomes a new project that jumps to the top of my “to do” list!

I’ve got issues. Serious issues.

I saw this post from Frugal Home Ideas on how to make a No Sew Roman Shade. I thought it would be great for my office.

The problem is that I have been shoving things into my office since the beginning of the holiday season. It looks like this now…

Yup. That’s it.

I was planning on cleaning it up, painting the walls my favorite color, (Khaki Shade by Sherwin Williams), and sprucing it up before I showed it to you.

Too late now.

We installed the faux wood blinds when we bought the house 5 years ago. However, I’ve been too lazy to shorten the blinds, and they were just a bit too long.

Wow, I’m just letting it all hang out here, aren’t I?

So, here’s what I did.

I took the blinds down and laid them on the floor.

I numbered the blinds so I could see which ones I wanted to keep. I was keeping every 5th blind.

Then I carefully cut the string below each of the blinds that I didn’t want to keep. You do NOT want to cut the pull strings!

Then I took the bottom piece off of the blinds.

And slid all of the blinds off.

At this point, I was questioning if I had any idea whatsoever what I was doing. But I persevered.

I put every 5th blind back on the strings, and when I hung them back up, they looked like this.

I used some off-white material and some black-out lining that I already had to make my shade.

I cut the black-out lining an inch and a half wider than the blinds, and about a foot longer than the window.

Then I laid the black out lining on top of my material and used it as a pattern.

Now the next step may have not been necessary, but I did it anyway.

I used a double-sided fusion lining to attach the material to the black-out lining. I followed the instructions on the fusion lining.

I laid the fusion lining on the material like this.

I used my iron to attach the fusion lining.

Then I pulled back the paper part of the fusion lining.

And then I ironed my material to the black-out lining causing the two pieces to stick together. (Like I said, I don’t know if this was necessary.)

Next, I laid the blind on top of the back of my curtain.

I used fabric glue to glue the material to the top bar of the blinds.

Make sure you do not glue the material to the outside two inches of the top bar or you won’t be able to put it back into the brackets in the window.

I flipped each blind over and applied my fabric glue. Then I flipped the blind back over and pressed it to the material.

Make sure you do not get glue on any of the strings or it won’t work properly.

Then I turned the sides of the material over about a half inch…

Put some hot glue on each blind…

Flipped the material over again on top of the hot glue.

I did this all the way down the side of the curtain creating a hem.

I pressed over the hem to make it more crisp.

Then I put the shade back into the brackets.

The extra material that I didn’t glue down laid perfectly over the bracket.

I then used my glue gun to create a hem on the bottom of the blind.

I tied a knot with all the strings on the bottom blind.

I used my hot gun to attach the fringe.

And I was finished!

I am pleased with how it turned out, but it definitely clashes with the yellow on my walls. Now I am going to have to add “painting the office” up to the top of my “to do” list.

Okay, that’s it.

I finished a project that I had no idea I was going to be doing this week. I’ve got to stop looking at other blogs…you guys inspire me too much and get me off track! :)

The NyQuil is kicking in really good now, and I am getting ready to crash.

Goodnight.

UPDATE (1-17-10): Now that I am feeling better, I am linking this project to all of my favorite parties....

Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts
Make your Monday at Twice Remembered
Get Your Craft On at Today’s Creative Blog

DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors