* Peppertowne *: roman shade

Vintage Grain Sack Roman Shade Tutorial: part II

If you missed my first tutorial on how to make your own replica of a vintage grain sack go here Vintage Grain Sack Tutorial: Part I Now we will turn that burlap material into a roman shade.

Materials:

Backing material/muslin: enough to cover the back of your shade, mine was about 1 yard

Rotary cutter, cutting mat, ruler & measuring tape

Edging material: enough to fit your shade

6 1/2" diameter plastic roman shade rings

Needle and thread

2 L-brackets

To make this a little easier to understand, my measurements will be in (parenthesis) but your measurements will be different.

1. The hardest part about making this is getting all your measurements right. Measure the width of your window. (29.5” W x 35.5” L) Figure out how wide you want the trim to be (2.5”) multiply this by 2 (5”) subtract this from the width of your window (24.5”) now add 1” for seam allowance (25.5”) this is how wide to cut your grain sack & backing piece/muslin. For the length, I measured my window and then added 5” inches for bunching. You can cut the length to whatever you like, either just enough to hang straight or extra material for gathering.

Take the width you would like your trim to be (2.5”) add ½” for seam allowance (3”) then multiply this by 2, (6”) we will be doubling up the trim pieces. Cut two pieces this width (2 of 6”) and 1” longer than your grain sack.

2. Lay the grain sack out right side up; lay the muslin down on top of the grain sack, right side down, so the right sides are facing together. Pin along the very top and bottom of what will be your shade. Sew with ½” seam allowance across the top, and bottom. After sewing this, I used a surger just to make sure my burlap wouldn’t fray. Turn right side out and press the seams along the top and bottom with an iron.

3. Next I surged along the two side seams, to prevent the burlap from fraying. If you don’t have a surger you could use a zigzag stitch instead.

4. Take a side trim piece folded in half; press it with an iron to crease it. Then to give it a finished edge, turn one end at the top inside out, sew along the top using a seam allowance of ½”, clip your corner, turn it right side out and press along the seam. Repeat until all four corners are done.

5. Take one trim piece; place it on the grain sack with right sides together and pin all along the edge. Sew the trim piece using ½” seam allowance. Turn and press seams until flat. Repeat for other side.

6. On the back of the shade hand sew three plastic rings on each side, left and right. To figure out where your rings should go, think about what you want the bunching to look like. I decided to sew mine on the edge of where the burlap material meets the white trim. I put the first ring ¼” up from the bottom and the next equally spaced 6” apart. Sew them similar to how you would sew a button, but only go through one layer of fabric, so it doesn’t show on the front. I sewed several loops around my rings and then tied a knot. Just to clarify, my picture originally shows me sewing the rings right on the edge of the trim, I found this didn't work right, so I moved them in a few inches, as per the black writing added to my picture.

7. Measure out one length of the curtain and cut your two pieces of cording this long. Tie one piece of cording to each bottom ring and thread it through the remaining rings. Mount your curtain in your window. I used a piece of wood screwed into the window seal with two L brackets, and draped my curtain over the top. Pull on the cording until you achieve the desired look. After I got the cording and rings situated to where I wanted I threaded the cording back through the rings tying it in knots. You could hand sew it in place or use a hot glue gun to tack it down.