How to Make a Roman Blind - Part Two - Making the Blind | How to Make a Roman Blind - Part Two - Making the Blind |
HOW TO MAKESTEP 1. CUTTING OUTFirst iron the fabric and the lining. FABRIC: Cut the fabric to the required size REMEMBERING to add an extra 10cms to each length for the top and bottom hems, and an extra 5cms to the total required width for the side hems. If widths have to be joined allow for pattern matching and plan to use a full width as a centre panel with half widths joined at the sides. (There is no objection to a centre seam but Roman Blinds look best with a full middle panel). If the blind is NOT to be lined use a flat fell seam, but if it is to be lined then use a simple open seam with the selvedges cut off. LINING: Cut the lining to the EXACT WIDTH of the blind but allow an extra 10cms on the length. It is important that the fabric and the lining should be cut square and straight. Mark the centre of the lining and the fabric at the top and bottom. STEP 2. JOIN THE FABRIC AND THE LININGLay the fabric on a flat surface face up. Place the lining face down on top of the fabric ensuring that the left-hand edges are directly on top of each other (this will leave 5cm of fabric showing on the right hand edge). Now pin the left-hand edges together and sew down the length 1cm in from the edge (remove the pins as you sew). Now pull the lining over towards the right hand edge and place directly on top of the fabric. Pin and sew this edge together 1cm from edge. Now turn the fabric and lining inside out. The right side of the fabric should now be on the outside. Lay the blind flat with the lining on top. Position the centre marks of the material and the lining. Pin together and iron flat. There will now be a 2cm (approximately) border of fabric at each side of the blind. The blind should now be the correct width required. Note: Approximately 1cm is lost when turning the fabric - this has been allowed for. STEP 3. MAKE A BOTTOM HEMTurn up a 1cm hem, and iron. Then turn up a 4cm hem, stitch from the back through to the front of the blind. Use cotton that will colour match your fabric. STEP 4. PREPARING THE ROD POCKETS (Fig.1)Cut 9cm strips of lining the width of the blind lining, plus 2cm to form the end hems of the rod pockets. Fold each strip in half along the length and iron. Now open the strip and fold the outer edges into the centre fold and iron. Turn one end of each strip in on itself by 1cm; now fold again in half reducing final width of pocketing to approx 2cm, then stitch one end closed. Leave one end open so that the pocket bars can be inserted later at step 7. Now make up the required number of pockets (See step 5). 0015.jpg "roman-blind-2-(fig1)0015.jpg")
WARNINGYoung children or vulnerable persons can be at risk from strangulation from unrestrained loops in cords and chainsKEEP OUT OF REACHSTEP 5. HOW TO WORK OUT THE POSITION OF THE BAR POCKETS (Fig 2)You are aiming for equal folds when the blind is drawn up. The top section must be longer by 5cms, to allow for the depth of the headrail. The bottom section is always a half section plus 1cm. Proceed as follows: Deduct 6cm from the total drop for the top and bottom sections. Now divide the balance of the drop by the number of folds required in the blind and include the half fold e.g. 3½, 4½, 5½ etc. (the folds will be formed between the bar pockets (Fig 2.)). The distance between the pockets can vary up to 45cm depending on the number of pockets chosen and the drop of the blind. Example:
STEP 6. MARKING OUT THE FABRIC WITH THE POSITION OF THE BLIND BAR POCKETSLay the blind, with the lining uppermost, on as flat a surface as possible. Carefully measure from the bottom of the blind up towards the top. In the example, the first mark will be at 11cm, then 4 marks each at 20cm. The last mark (the top section), will be at 25cm. Check measure from the top mark to the bottom of the blind, if all is well this will be the drop required. Draw faint pencil lines across the lining, following the marks made. STEP 7. STITCHING ON THE POCKETS AND INSERTING POCKET BARS AND BOTTOM BARTake the prepared pockets and stitch the open edge to the blind along the pencil lines, so you will be attaching and closing the pockets at the same time. The pockets should be hanging downwards. Take care to keep the lines straight because the stitching will come through to the front of the blind. Again, use cotton to match the fabric. With the lining on top, the cotton to match the fabric should be in the machine shuttle. It will help to pin each pocket to the blind in several places (Fig 2), then remove the pins as you sew.
STEP 8. ATTACHING THE "TOUCH & CLOSE" HEADING TO THE BLINDCheck the drop again. There should be approximately 5cm excess fabric above the pencil line. Allow 1cm above this line and trim off the excess. Turn over the 1cm as a hem, laying the sew-on strip (this is attached to the strip of Touch & Close type hook attached to the headrail in the kit) on to the back of the blind, soft side uppermost, and stitch along the top and then along the bottom of the strip. Now cut the pocket rods and the bottom bar to the correct size. The rods should be 1cm shorter than the pocket width and the bottom bar 2cm less than the width of the bottom hem. Insert the rods/bar into the pockets/bottom hem and sew the open ends closed. STEP 9. ATTACHING RINGS TO THE POCKETSAt 7 cm in from each side of the blind, sew on rings to the bottom edge of each pocket. If required add further rows evenly across the width with approx. 50cm gaps.
STEP 10. PREPARE THE HEAD RAIL
Cut the headrail to the width of the blind, taking care when cutting through the adhesive backed hook attached to the headrail. Cut excess equally from each side. Attach the blind to the rail, and lay it face down. STEP 11. CORDING THE BLINDStart at the opposite end of the desired pull side, and from the bottom of the blind thread cord through the vertical rows of rings and up through the screw eye or porcelain cord guides above the rings. Continue the cord across through the screw eyes, leaving approx. 30cms past the last screw eye so that the cord connector can be attached. Complete the cording of the remaining vertical rows of rings and pass all cords into the long half of the cord connector. Tie off the cords to the bottom rings of the blind securely. Push the half of the cord connector up to the end screw eye, and knot the cords together behind it. Check that the blind is hanging correctly and if satisfied cut off the surplus cord. Thread the larger cord (2.2cm thickness) into the other half of the cord connector and screw the connector halves together. At the other end of the thick cord attach the Acorn. STEP 12. FIXING THE CORDED BLIND IN POSITION
Drill holes in batten as required, one hole either end (Approx. 10cm in from end) and further holes as required approximately 60cm apart. Batten may be fixed to face wall or ceiling. In the case of face fix the holes will be covered with the hooked tape. Therefore carefully make a hole in the tape through which the fixing screw can be passed. The small hole will not affect the adhesion power of the tape. Drill holes in the wall or other surface to which the blind is to be fixed to a depth of 36mm using a drill bit of 6mm. Check that the blind is hanging square. Some adjustment can be made by repositioning the blind on the stick and strip fixing. Finally fix the cleat in a convenient position. TRAINING THE BLIND
For the first few days of operation train the folds of the blind by running the fold lines through your hands. INCREASING THE WIDTH OF A BLINDPretty Frills Kits are available in 4' (122cm) and 6' (183cm) widths, for 8' (244cm) wide, purchase two 4' (122cm) kits. The instructions for making as given in steps 1 to 12 apply but note the following. The headrail should be cut to size and simply butted together, drill extra fixing holes as necessary. Take care when cutting through the "hooked" touch and close attached to the headrails. When attaching the "loop" touch and close to the blind it is necessary to first stitch the two pieces together and sew the entire piece to the blind fabric. JOINING THE POCKET BARS AND THE BOTTOM BARSPocket bars simply join together by inserting the small joining pieces into each end of the two bars and pushing them together. EXTENDING THE DROP BEYOND 6 FEET (183cm)
The Pretty Frills Roman Blind Kit contains five pocket rods. Usually the gaps between pocket rods will vary from 20 to 40 cm. If a drop longer than 6' is required then the maximum gap can be increased a little otherwise extra rods can be purchased. Extra cord may also be required. |
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