A No-Sew Roman Shade

I needed a simple and inexpensive window treatment for my kitchen window. I've come across plenty of tutorials for the no-sew roman shade using nothing but some fabric, a mini blind and iron-on adhesive. Sounds simple, right?

The tutorial I used as my guide is one on this gal's site; http://365days2simplicity.blogspot.com/2011/04/easy-no-sew-roman-shades.html.

First things first, measure your window. Measure twice, cut once. My shade was going to rest inside my window sill so my measurements were 35"H x 35"W.

I bought this $5 mini blind from Home Depot.

 

I laid the blind out, fully extended, then prepared to cut the three ladder cords. The lift cord is thicker, the ladder cords are thinner. DO NOT CUT THE LIFT CORD.

 

 

With the ladder cords now gone, the slats will slide freely on the lift cord. I decided to use four slats plus my bottom bar. I would need to remove the bottom bar to remove the slats I wouldn't be using. I did this by removing the plugs in the bottom bar.

 

Inside you'll see the end knot of the lift cord. You can untie or cut this knot off. Slide the bottom bar and all the slats off that you won't need.  Measure the lift cord to the desired length (mine was 35"). Reattach the bottom bar and tie off the lift cord at the measured mark. Hide the knots in the bottom bar and replug.

 

I laid out my newly altered blind on the top of my freshly ironed fabric. I cut the fabric 1" thicker on all sides, so I could later fold it to make my hems. I used the iron-on tape (per directions) found at Michael's to create my no-sew hems.

 

 

I glued the top bar to my fabric using a foam brush and tacky glue. Hot glue would've been good too since I used it on the bottom bar.

 

 

I laid out my slats every 7 inches starting from the top. Then preceded to glue them using tacky glue onto the fabric. DO NOT GET GLUE ON THE LIFT CORD.

 

 

 

I hot glued the bottom bar to the bottom hem. And trimmed of the excess fabric.

 

 

 

I let my shade dry for about an hour, then hung. I was so excited to see if my time and hard work paid off. Then I saw this....

 

Epic fail. And a whole lotta disappointment.

 

Give up, I wouldn't. Try again I did. I rewashed and re ironed my fabric so I could start over and change a few things. I ended up using only three slats plus my bottom bar. I laid out the slats every 7 inches starting from the bottom. I also retied my lift cords to be sure it was all squared. I re glued it all, let it dry for one hour and hung it up again.

 

 

 

Ah, so much better. Not a permanent solution, but it will work for now. I have plans to purchase a roman shade next year when we get our kitchen reno underway. That's a large project I'm really looking forward to.

 

Psst...This post is linked up at Clean and Scentsible and IHeart Organizing