How to Sew Roll-Up Shades

Apart from being affordable, and offering maximum flexibility to the amount of light desired in the room, the greatest advantage of creating your own roll-up shades is that you can personalize the final result to your own taste and liking. Moreover, roll-up shades are very easy to sew and can be customized to match the rest of your decor. All you need is 3 fabrics of your choice which go well together both as materials and in color scheme.

Step 1 – Getting Ready

The first thing you have to do is to measure up the window where you are going to put up your shade. You will be mounting your shade inside the window recess so you need exact measurements. When you are taking down the measurements add a 3½inch allowance to the length and a 1inch allowance to the width for seam purposes. The next thing to do is to cut down both Fabric 1 and Fabric 2 to these measurements with the help of a good pair of scissors.

Step 2 – Sewing Up

Now you have to sew up the two fabrics together. Put Fabric 1 and Fabric 2 on top of each other. Their sizes should match up perfectly. Remember to put the right sides (the side which at the end should be outside) facing each other. You will first sew three adjoining sides: sew the two long sides and one short side of the two fabrics together. At this point you have to turn the sewn up fabrics inside out so that you have the right side on the outside. The next step is to form the casing to sew up the final side: press together and roll the seamless edges 1 inch upwards on the lining side of the shade and sew up as closely as possible to this pressed edge.

Step 3 – Creating the Mounting

At this point you should have the fabric of the shades sewn together so that you can mount the shade onto the mounting board. Take the 1x1inch mounting board and cut it ½ inch shorter than the width of your shade. At this point place the shade with Fabric 2 on a flat surface facing you (the front of the shade should be facing the flat surface) and put the mounting board 2inches lower to the shade’s edge. At this point fold the edge of the shade onto the board and use the stapler to staple the shade to the length of the back of the board. In this way you should have the mounting for your shade ready so the next step is to create a weight for your shade to stay in place. To do this all you have to do is to insert the 1inch diameter wooden dowel into the casing you did at the end of step 2.

Step 4 – Adding Ties

At this point the shades themselves are ready so you will be creating ties with which to roll up the shades: for this step you will be using Fabric 3. You will therefore need four strips 3½ inches in width and twice as long as the window’s height plus an extra 12 inches in length so that they can overhang. Now take two strips at a time and sew them together: start with the right side facing inside sewing one long side and two short sides, then turn it inside out and sew the last long side. At this point put the strips over the top board in such a way that they are of equal length: it is up to you to choose their distance from the edges. To finish up you can now staple the ties at the top of the board.

Step 5 – Finishing Up

Your shades are now ready. All you have to do is hang them and attach them to the window. At this point you should place the shades top up in the recess window and attach it to the window by driving the No. 8 wood screws through the bottom of the mounting board towards the window frame. You are now ready.