Roman Shades from Big Blinds

My dining room transformation is moving a long.  My latest project was making these roman shades using my blinds.   I have to admit, when I first started cutting the strings for this I was worried!! Once you start there is no turning back.  I felt the pressure of getting it done before my husband came home and saw everything dismantled:)

****Edited to add: The fabric I used was Windsor from Lewis and Sheron Textiles.

Here's the window BEFORE: excuse the crummy pic of the ghetto room!

AFTER:

I followed this tutorial for shades our of mini blinds, but used my larger blinds.

First I removed my blinds from the window.  I cut all the little slits and took off the bottom, and removed the extra slats that I didn't need.  (leaving intact the pull string--don't cut that one!)

 Second, I rethreaded the slats that I needed.  I put one about every 8-9 inches.

Then I lined up my fabric, left 3" on each side of the slats, then glued each slat down on the fabric with a little bead of FabriTac glue from Micheals.  Then I folded the edges over and glued them onto the slats.

After I put it up on the window, I decided to add some lining to the shade.

So I cut out lining pieces and glued the rectangles onto the fabric in between the slats.  It would be better to do this first, before you glued any slats on.  Oh well.

I also left about 6 inches on the bottom of the shade, and then I just hemmed it by folding it over and gluing it into place.  

Then I hung it back up into the existing hardware. 

Drumroll please....!

(please ignore the wall color--that will be attacked shortly:))

Woila!

And it goes up and down just like the blinds did.  I love it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Update:  On my second shade I glued the slats to the lining first, and then laid that on top of my fabric and glued the lining to the fabric in the same place the slats were laying.   I think it turned out even nicer:-)

Altering Curtains, To Fit My Needs! (and wants)

In the mist of my mommy duties with play-doh on my hands (and in my nails! does anyone else hate that!?) I thought I'd try to get a post in. Don't spend the money on new curtians if you already have cute ones but they're to short.

The naked window in need of some dressing up!
So I hung on these curtains that I already had and love in my sons room but they were to short for the 9ft. ceiling and I wanted floor to ceiling curtains (rule of thumb, they always look the best) What to do, what to do?
So I bought this adorable fabric at Joanns. I didn't want to splurge on expensive fabric for this project, and using a 50% off coupon it was $5 a yard and I only needed a little more than a yard. Now this is where I kick myself because see this is one of those projects where I started it and then came back to it (I know none of you do that). So pictures I thought I had taken I hadn't! But basically I just hemmed the fabric to the bottom of the existing curtain.

Step 2- Next I wanted to hide the line where the polka dots meet the circles so I took a color from the fabric, being the yellow, and created a "band" about 3inch wide and sewed it to the curtian.

I wanted the band to be different instead of being just a plain piece of fabric. So I actually sewed 6 inch strips together with the seam side out for a little dimension.

Ta-Da! Sew easy! Anyone can do it. Like I said these were in my sons room, but you could make any curtain your own by doing this to a solid color curtain panel ( like one at Target) and then adding some fabric to the bottom.

His room is still a work in progress but I'm almost done!

Go HERE to see some art I've already done.

Curtains from "scratch" this time!

I totally forgot to post this on Monday! I got so busy cleaning up my Halloween and then got the urge to rearrange and redesign. So the next thing I know my house is littered with projects.

It's another curtain tutorial, I know.  But this time I actually made them by scratch and didn't alter! Can you believe it? Call the presses!




Um, yeah.  I know I need a new camera. My pictures just don't do things justice.


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These curtains by Simply Shabby Chic, were kind of my inspiration



I bought this cute white eyelet fabric. I love it because it already had a finished embroidered scalloped edge. That edge adds a pretty detail and makes it a little bit easier!



It was very sheer, more sheer then I wanted. So I lined it with white fabric.


 I did it in three pieces for the "roman shade" look.


Here is another close up of the already finished bottom. Sew pretty (he he!) I didn't line this because I wanted it to be more sheer.




To me, the worse part of making your own roman shades, or basically any curtain from "scratch" is making sure it's perfectly square and fits into the window. When you alter curtains you don't have to really worry about that because the manufacturer already has! So I used a T-square and meter stick.


I made a rod pocket.


I gathered it about 12" up from the bottom to expose the already scalloped edge that I love and stitched it to create the balloon shade look.


I added ribbon for some detail just because I love ribbon!
It's just kind of a raw shabby look!

Window Dressing

What can I say, I love to cut things apart, make them better and sew them back together! Here is how I did it in my great room.





They started out like this. Can you see them in the background? Just a nice woven grayish black.  I always had this plan in mind but was waiting until I found the right fabric.


I took the curtains I already had and folded them in half and cut down the middle. BUT stopped before I cut the slot (is slot the word? well I'm sticking with it) that the curtain rod goes through.


As you can see they were just white on one side. Actually, they were lined with a solar reflective material, bonus!




I finally found this gorgeous fabric, after months of searching, at one of the best consignment stores EVER in St. George. There was just enough on the bolt to do both windows! It's great quality too and I got it for a steal!


Next, I cut it to fit the "new" panels I had just created. I made sure the pattern looked the same on all the panels so they'd match and have the store bought look.


Then I folded over and sewed. So I've now made them doubled sided.


I had these cute knobs that I drilled into the wall at the bottom.


I sewed (is that a word? geez I'm kind of dumb tonight) ribbon on the inside of both panels and they latch around the knob to keep open.


Here they are!


They are my new favorite! (shh I'm kind of over Halloween and ready to have my fireplace back so I can decorate it with the new curtains)

Guest Room Design

Much Needed Makeover

A peek at my guest room in progress.

 Blue and I are friends again, after an awful separation dating back from the 80's.  Blue tells me he's changed, and promised he wouldn't get dusty or invite his friend "mauve" around. The paint color is "Salt Glaze" by Martha Stewart (looks gray in the photo but is really a pale blue).  I am sticking to a monochromatic color palette of blue, black & white.  I found the lamp at Marshalls, white pillows with shams at Target. I threw in the two simple accessories before our guests arrived for the weekend. [the clock is from PB for our wedding, and small pitcher came with our dishes].  I purchased a mixed bouquet and nabbed a few of the roses for this mini-pitcher to brighten up the corner.  I threw a yard of fabric I had over an old nightstand.  I think it looks pretty serene.  I love walking by the room, (I think it's even prettier than my master bedroom) it also serves as my craft and sewing room.  Other projects I am working for this room are: spray painting the other lamp white, a lampshade makeover, paint the desk chair, and ruffling curtains.  More photos to come. 

Improvising

Window Before:

Window After:

My original plan  included white ruffled panels for the window treatments (but I haven't added the ruffles to some old panels I got on clearance yet).  And I wanted to have something  as a window covering while our grandparents where visiting, so I was lucky my sister sent me these black and white pillow covers a few days earlier.  I just folded 4 of them up over the decorative molding that came with the blinds, and ta-da, instant no-sew window treatment.
*You can see the light blue wall color a little better in this photo under the window.

DIY Kitchen Window Treatment

Kitchen Window Before:

Here's the latest offender: the kitchen window. It actually has a decent roman shade window treatment, with a fancy pull string- but it's just so bland and boring! I love the smaller top window, but there are times when I'm making dinner that the sun just glares me right in the face and that problem needed addressing.  So, after 2 quick trips to JoAnn's for fabric and trim (armed with my 40% off coupons,  one for each), I sewed up this curtain.  This was so easy,  I simply hemmed the edges, and then folded it over to make a pocket for the rod to go through (I didn't line it, since I left the roman shade underneath for privacy, plus, when is anyone ever going to check that kind of thing, save yourself the trouble!).   Since it was just a straight square of fabric, I bunched it up and tied it with the ribbons until I got it at the height I wanted.

Kitchen Window Now:

 I chose the fabric to work with the  paint color that was here when we moved in. But, we may be staying here longer than expected, and I think I'd like to go with something a little more fun, while this is more traditional.   But hey, it works for now, and looks better than a blank window with no style, and blocks out that afternoon sun.

 P.S. Please ignore the rod, I just found something to throw it up there to see how I liked it, and haven't gotten around to changing it yet.

Shh..I'm Cheating on my Window Valence.

I'm going to tell you how to totally cheat on your window treatments.  Some designers/seamstresses will charge upwards of $100 bones for something like this, but I'm going to tell you how I did it for $15 and about an hour.  I needed inspiration for the rooms color palette  so I chose this fabric from JoAnn's (on sale of course) as my jumping off point. This is an upholstery weight, so it was thick enough that it didn't need lining (You can cheat when you line them too, but that's another post).  I simply hemmed the edges (no bothering with pins or ironing, just folded it over) and had the trim from another old chair slip cover I made, so I disassembled that and sewed it on. 

 {My little secret}

I didn't even make a rod pocket, I just folded it over my curtain rod and she's been there ever since. I took a few minutes to bunch it up evenly across the top.   I also hung my rod just a few inches from the ceiling, about 18" above the window, to give the illusion of a taller window.. not to shabby!  I also had the rod (I intended to use it in my daughters room in my last house) still in the packaging.  I love going shopping in my basement, you can too... your basement that is:) 

Made by Me, curtains! (SO EASY!)

I love to make my own window treatments and pillows. Mostly because I have a vision in my head of what I want and can never find it! These are my versions of Roman Shades. Super Easy (if you do it my way :)

Parlor

I bought the panels at Target about 5 years ago. I cut them to fit the shape of my window, ADDING an extra inch for the seam on one side. By cutting store bought panels I only had to do a seam on ONE side! I found I could get 2 windows out of each panel.

Next, the trickiest part was sewing the ribbon on each side, making sure the needle caught the ribbons on both sides. It worked pretty will! I sewed down from the top about 1/3 of the length of the curtain and let the ribbon just hang the rest of the way down so I could tie up my curtain where I wanted!

Viola! So easy!

Baby's room