Ok, I’m finally back with part 2!  Let’s dive right in, shall we?

After the tube tape is sewn, the next step is to attach a board to the top.  This doesn’t come with the kit.  You don’t need anything big or fancy here.  Just get a  1 x 2 board cut to the width of your shade at Home Depot.  I already had this scrap piece in my garage and it worked just fine.

 

Wrap the top of your shade up and around the top of the board and use a staple gun to attach it.

 

Time to string the shade.  Grab the roll of cording that comes with the kit and cut 3 pieces.  The directions will give an estimate of how long each piece needs to be.  It will just depend on the size of your shade.

 

Starting about 1 inch in from the side, pull the cord through the bottom pocket in the tube tape and secure with a double knot.

These pockets are pretty tiny, so using a needle will help you pull the cord through.  I used a yarn darner needle for this because the opening was big enough for the cording to fit through.  After you’ve secured the cord to the bottom, string it through the rest of the pockets working your way up to the top.  Then repeat this step in the middle and other side of the shade.

 

 

Drill 3 pilot holes (in line with your cords) into the board and screw the hooks in.  These hooks also come with the kit.

 

String each cord up through the eye hook and then through the next eye hook to the left until you have all three cords coming out the far hook.

 

 

Then secure the cords together with a  knot.

 

Now it’s time to insert the wooden dowels.  These don’t come with the kit, but they are very cheap.  You can get them at craft stores or any hardware store.  Have them cut slightly less that the width of your shade.  Can you see how awesome this tube tape is?!  It pretty much does all the hard work for you.

 

 

The directions on the kit say to sew your shade lining on at the point to cover the cords and the dowels, but I sewed it on at the very beginning.  I didn’t really care about how it looks from the back.

 

I didn’t take pictures of the next step.  You simply attach the L brackets that come with the kit to the board.  Then attach the board to your window.  Finally, attach the included cord cleat to wrap the cord around when shade is up.

This project was not hard, but it did take some time.  I finished over the course of 3 days, working on it when my kids were at school and napping.  I was nervous to make this by myself, but the kit made it pretty simple.  If you can sew a semi-straight line, you can make your own roman shade.

I love how mine turned out!

 

 

Ok, this one is kind of long so I split it into two parts.  It took some time to make, but it was fairly straight forward.  I just followed the directions that came with the roman shade kit.

 

I measured my window and cut the fabric 6 inches longer and 1 inch wider than the window dimensions.  I also added a lining fabric for the back.  Then I pinned and hemmed the sides in a half inch.  The key to easy hemming is pressing first.  I pinned, then pressed, pinned in place again, and sewed.

 

 

 

I did the same thing for the bottom.  I hemmed it up 2 inches.  I probably should have folded the hem over a second time for a cleaner edge, but I was feeling lazy.

 

 

The next step is to attach the tube tape.  Tube tape is the trick to making this a doable project for anyone.  It comes with the kit.  It has little pocket openings for the wooden dowels and for the cording.  I’ll show you these steps in full tomorrow.

 

 

You need to measure your shade and mark lines where the tube tape will be sewn.  The first line should be 4 inches up from the bottom and each line after should be spaced 6 inches apart.

 

 

I used a fabric marker and my ruler to draw a straight line.  This step took the longest.  There is a lot of measuring to make sure you get your lines perfectly straight.

 

 

Now it’s time to pin on the tube tape.  Just follow the lines and pin, making sure the pockets of the tube tape are facing up.

 

Time for more sewing.  Sew along the top edge of the tube tape, making sure not to sew over any of the tiny pockets.

Come back tomorrow for Part 2!