Office Window Do-Over

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make a No Sew Roman Shade for my office.

I saw the project in blogland , and immediately decided to try it. Like…that night.

I used what supplies I already had and made this…

You can read about that project HERE.

I had intended to paint my office first, before making a shade, but I was just too impatient.

I liked the shade, (sort of), but not with my yellow walls.

So I finally painted the walls my favorite color, Khaki Shade by Sherwin Williams.

I forgot to take a picture of the roman shade with my new paint color, but let’s just say, I wasn’t diggin’ it.

The cream-colored shade just didn’t go with the Khaki Shade paint like I hoped it would.

So I got rid of the shade and decided to start over.

I decided to make another shade. Here it is…

My husband got me the “blessings” sign for Christmas. It is a very sentimental word for me because it is the word my mom said over and over when she was sick. She always taught us to count our blessings no matter what our circumstances.

The sign was very big as you can see, and I was having a hard time finding a place for it in my house. But then I held it over my window, and I loved it. If may not be for everyone, but for me, I love seeing that reminder each time I walk into my office.

Here is how I made this curtain…it was sooo easy!

I measured the height and width of the inside of my window frame and then added 1 inch to each measurement. That allows for a 1/2 inch seam on each side as you sew.

I did not use a pattern for this window. I usually use them when making window treatments, but I figured I could do this without one.

I bought some cotton fabric from Hobby Lobby. I got it on sale for about $2.00 a yard. I picked up three yards which cost me a little over $6.00.

Since the material wasn’t very thick, I decided to line the shade with the same cotton material.

I laid the material on my bedroom floor two layers thick.

Then I measured across the material with the width of my window and marked it with a pencil.

My window measured 39 1/2 inches wide, so I marked my material 40 1/2 inches.

Then I drew a line down my material by connecting all of my marks. (I used a yard stick to draw the line.)

Then I cut my material down the line and pinned it together to keep it straight.

I did the same thing down the material to get the length of my shade.

The height of my window measured 37 inches. I added an inch to allow for my 1/2 inch seam allowances which made it 38 inches. Then I added 3 more inches to the total to allow room for the rod pocket. So my total for the length of my shade was 41 inches.

I marked it with my pencil and drew a line all the way across.

Then I cut the material and pinned it all the way around.

Next, I sewed a 1/2 inch seam all the way around the material, except for about 4 inches on the top.

I left the four inches open to pull the material through.

Trim your edges, but don’t cut your seam.

Press open your seams. This is an important step.

Then I turned my material inside out and pressed on the edges of the shade.

I turned down about 1 1/2 inches of material on top to make a rod pocket.

Then I sewed a straight stitch down the edge of the rod pocket.

The only other materials I needed were some black ribbon and a tension rod.

I got them at Walmart. The tension rod was $5.00 and the ribbon was $1.99.

So the total cost of this shade was a little over $13.00…not bad!

I took a long piece of ribbon and slid it over the tension rod and down the back of the shade.

(Yes, there is paint on my window that I haven’t scrapped off yet. But who will see it…really?)

Mmmm….I guess all of YOU will see it…oops!

Then I folded the shade up accordion style and tied a bow.

I also used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbons to the front of the shade. It just helped them stay in place.

I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

It’s not perfect. But like The Nester says, “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.”

Doesn’t the tan paint look so much better than the yellow?

My husband made me this amazing desk. I love it. If anyone is interested in how he did it, let me know. I might post about it sometime.

Here is the HORRIBLE “before” from a few weeks ago…

Oooh, this is so hard to look at!

Then it went to this…

And now I am here…

I’m getting there…

Now I need to accessorize, find a cute little rug, a new office chair, and maybe a chandelier? Wouldn’t that be cute?

I’ll be sharing the progress on my office throughout the week.

I haven’t joined any linky parties in a few weeks, so I am so excited to be joining (a little late)…

Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land

Get Your Craft On at Today’s Creative Blog

Show and Tell and Blue Cricket Design

And More!

Blessings,

Traci

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