Eclectic Momma: The BEST DIY Method Roman Shades Using Existing Blinds

I'm in the process of reclaiming our 3rd bedroom. It has been a junk/storage room for nearly the entire tenure at our home, and I grew sick of having to lock the door when company came over, save they saw the mess.

Fresh paint on the walls (a dramatic taupe), spare bed turned into a daybed, lots of pillows, and I'm that much closer to a pretty place that can be an office/hangout area. But the windows really needed something, being covered by the cheap plastic builder blinds.

Because this is not our final home (I hope!), I refuse to spend $$ on nicer blinds/window treatments that I would have to leave with the house. I happened upon a several blogs that showed how to re-purpose old blinds and create a Roman shade.

The problem is, I wanted a liner on my fabric to make it thicker, (I don't trust my neighbors), and most blogs recommending to re-purpose blinds by no-sew gluing are not designed for heavier, thick fabric. I actually finished the shades and had to redo them because the plastic couldn't take the weight and the shades sagged in the middle. I nearly cried. They looked awful. So how to salavage them?

Using a dowel rod supports the middle! There are blogs that have you gluing the dowel rods onto your fabric, but I was so sick of glue that I decided to use this suggestion. Make a pocket.

My windows are 61" L x 34.5" W. Also, while the aforementioned blog used only 1 piece of fabric, I added a backing on mine to make it more dense, and therefore decided to sew the hem rather than use iron on adhesives.

I needed:
-*10 yards fabric for 2 windows (5 for pretty fabric outside, 5 for lining). $17 at Walmart for 6 yards fabric + $2.99 at Goodwill store for king-sized sheet that I cut up).
-Fabri-Tac glue. $3 at **Joann's Fabrics with 50% off coupon
-Your old blinds.
-sewing machine.
-yard stick.
-dowel rods. Amount depends on the # of folds you want (I used six 5/16" at 36"). $3.54 at Joann's Fabrics with 30% coupon
-needle & thread matching fabric.
-plastic rings 3/4". $2.15 at Joann's Fabrics with 40% coupon

TOTAL: $28.68

*Disclosure--I habitually buy too much fabric. 6 was too much, and because I had some left over, I'm guesstimating amount needed based on that).

**I'm not trying to make a plug for Joann's, and am certainly not making any money from them. Go anywhere you want. I just hate reading blogs and never knowing where to get materials. This is just one option.

1) Measure your windows & shades. Using my formula, 34.5 +1+1 (hems either side) = 36.5" wide total. Length takes more calculation. I did 3 folds (pockets) in mine with a 1/2" seam. So... 61+1+1 (hem top and bottom)=63+(1+1+1 pocket folds) =66" long total. If you want more folds, you must add in 1" in length per one.

I swear this is the hardest part. Tread carefully.

2) Put front and back pieces together (the way you want them to look when mounted), fold over a 1" seam, pin and sew. I never iron, but you can iron the seam first to make it crisp before sewing. Repeat for all sides.

And you end up with....

3) For the life of me, I couldn't get my pull cord to work unless it sat IN FRONT of my fabric. Not the ideal, as I would of prefered it hidden, but oh well. I measured and cut a small hole through my fabric with sissors near the top for the cords to go through. If you want to be fancier, use the button hole option on your sewing machine for a finished edge. Or you might not have to do this step at all if your pull string is in a different spot.

4) Take down your shade. Time to rip it apart. If you hate these things as much as I do, this process can be oddly therapeutic. However, we DO NOT want to cut the thicker pull cord running through it, but the ladder cords. Good picture of that here. Cut them out plus the plastic blinds. All we really want from these ugly things is the hanging hardware with pull strings intact (because who wants to install shade hardware? Not this girl!).

The pull cord is a bit twisted up as my toddler was loose on a rampage, but all you have left is the top to mount, the thick pull strings, and the base.

5) Back to your fabric. Measure out where you want your folds. I like the cascading look when pulled so the space from the top to the first pocket was 20", then another pocket 10" below that, then the last pocket 12" below that. Mark your folds with a pencil on either side, pinch and pin.

6) Sew pockets. Staying at the 5/8 mark on my sewing machine made for a big enough pocket for a 5/16" dowel rod to go through.

Sewing!

7) Put the dowel rods through. If you have extra that dowel needs to be cut off, mark it and then pull it out and cut.

What the pocket looks like with the dowel rod inside.

What it looks from the other side--pretty!

8) Time to hand sew! Honestly, it wasn't so bad. Took me about 2 minutes per ring and I'm a noobie. Measure where your pull strings are and mark on your shade. Mine was 7" from the edge.

Get out your needled and thread and sew on the ring, attaching it to the fabric on your pocket.

9) I didn't want to detach my thicker pull cord from the bottom, so I cut the rings instead, put the string through, and put a dab of glue on each ring to reseal the cut. Not ideal, but it works.