No Sew Roman Shades
I looked for a tutorial like this a couple months ago and couldn't find a good one with pictures. This one is a true winner. Check out the tutorial on the blog below. http://pureoffaith.blogspot.com/2012/05/no-sew-roman-shades.html?showComment=1337707358135
I am going to use the basics of this tutorial to turn some old wooden blinds into Roman shades, but right off the bat I have a few adjustments to make them look a bit more high-end.
1. I plan on sewing seams in the fabric where the slats are. The extra strip of fabric behind the seam can be the strip where I glue the fabric to the wooden slat. This way, I will ensure that no glue leaks through the fabric, ruining the front of my blind. Trust me, as an interior design student who has used every kind of glue out there, even the no sew glue can leek through certain fabrics. That would be so frustrating to have glue ruin this project.
2. I think I will leave the bottom bar attached to the blinds and just cut off the blinds I don't need instead of sliding them off. Leaving the bottom bar attached means I have a heftier piece to wrap the bottom of my fabric around and will make sure that the bottom of the blind is weighted, so it won't swing around at all.
3. Depending on the fabric, I will definitely line the fabric first and in addition to #1, I will probably also finish the seam around the edges of the blinds, instead of gluing unfinished fabric to the back. This means the blinds will look finished from the front AND back (especially important if your shades cover a door or windows that face a patio - like mine!).
4. I realize the title of this post is "No Sew" Roman shades, so #1 & 2 might defeat the whole purpose of the supposed ease of this project. However, any way you can polish up a craft to make it look not so "homemade" is in my opinion a good thing when dealing with home improvement projects! :)
I will be sure to post my own photos of this process when I turn my ratty wooden blinds into Roman shades!