Custom Roman Shades come with an expensive price tag. DIY your own Roman Shades using mini cordless blinds for a fraction of the price.
Have you ever priced out Roman Shades for your windows?
Holy Smokes!
Our kitchen area has a bump out with two 48″ windows and one 58″ window. The cost for Roman Shades was going to be over $1,000!
Take a peek at our massive kitchen makeover!
We’re going to make our own custom shades for these large windows – total cost, under $150!
DIY Custom Roman Shades
The best part about these DIY shades is that you don’t have to know how to sew! So go measure your windows and let’s get started!
Update 1/24: I’ve also tried and tested the method of using Peel and Stick Fabric Fuse if you’d prefer that. Both methods work! Wherever you see e6000 listed below – just replace with Fabric Fuse!
Materials Needed for this DIY
- cordless mini blinds [You can find the most affordable options here and here.]
- fabric of your choice [I used a beige linen fabric from Hobby Lobby]
- a strong adhesive like e6000
- Heat n Bond adhesive tape
Tools
- drill for hanging your blinds
- iron
How to Make Your Roman Shades
Find cordless blinds closest to the size of your window, but not going over for inside mount. We can make up the difference in fabric for blinds shorter than the window.
The first thing you want to do is lay out your fabric and place your closed blinds on top marking your left and right sides down the length of the fabric. You will want to add an inch to the width on all sides.
Once your fabric is marked, set the blinds aside and fold over about an inch of fabric on the left and right. Iron to make a flat crease. This total width should be the same size as your blinds or slightly larger.
Apply the Heat n Bond adhesive tape according to package directions to your folded over edges in order to make a neat hem.
Place your opened blinds face down on top of your fabric. This may take two people to fully expand. I added four 5 lb hand weights to hold the top of my blinds while I slowly extended them.
The left and right sides should be aligned perfectly with additional fabric at the top and bottom. Apply e6000 to the top of your shades and wrap the fabric up and around being sure not to cover the space needed for hanging hardware.
Allowing the glue time to dry will make the remaining steps easier.
Now you want to determine the spacing of your Roman Shade folds. I marked every 9th blind starting at the top and carefully removed all unmarked blinds. You do NOT want to cut the strings, just the blinds.
Now that you have your remaining blinds, starting at the top, flip over the blind and apply e6000 to the curved front side and flip back over, pressing into the fabric. A very thin layer of smoothed out glue will produce the best results.
Work your way down, adding some weights to your blinds if you can while the glue sets. Once you reach the bottom, you’ll repeat the same process as the top. Apply glue to the bottom base of the blinds and wrap the fabric around towards the back.
Once your new custom Roman Shades are dry, hang in your windows using the hardware included with the blinds. You will now be able to lift up and pull down your shades with ease!
