How to Make DIY Roman Shades

Measure Your Window

The best thing about making your own Roman shades is that you can make them to fit any window in your home. These Roman shades fit just inside of your window.

Measure the width and the length of the window and write these numbers down. This will be the size of the finished shade.

Cut Your Fabric

Now that you've measured your window, you can cut your fabric. Cut the home decor fabric 3 inches wider than the width of your window and 5 inches longer than the length of your window.

The lining should be cut 1 inch less than the width of the window and the same length as the window. Set the rest of the lining fabric aside.

Sew Together the Fabric and Lining

Put your home decor fabric and lining fabric right sides together. Pin along the sides to hold everything in place.

Sew together both sides with a 1/2-inch seam allowance. The finished piece won't lay flat yet, because the pieces of fabric were of different sizes.

Center the Lining

To make sure that your lining doesn't show from the front of the shade, you'll want to center it.

Lay the fabric piece you just sewed (still inside out) with the lining facing up. Shift the lining to the center of the home decor fabric, causing some extra fabric to come up on both sides. Fold these sides down. You should have 1 inch of extra fabric on each side. Press well with an iron and pin in place if needed.

Sew the Bottom of the Shade

Pin the bottom of the shade, keeping the folds that you just created. Sew the entire length, including on top of the folds. Use 1/2-inch seam allowance.

Determine Amount of Dowel Rods

The amount of dowel rods that you'll need depends on how long your window shade is.

Dowel rods should be placed 9 to 14 inches apart. Space the dowel rods evenly, with one being at the bottom of the shade.

Cut Your Dowel Rods and Slat of Wood

Cut your dowel rods 1 inch shorter than the width of your window. This will ensure that the dowel rods won't hit the side of the window.

The slat of wood goes in the slot at the top of the shade. It needs to be cut the length of the finished shade.

Mark for Dowel Pockets

Place the fabric wrong side up. Using a ruler to make sure you get a straight line, take a fabric marker and mark where each dowel rod will go.

Make the Dowel Pockets

Take your leftover lining fabric and cut 2-inch strips the length of your finished shade. You'll want to cut as many of these as you have dowel rods.

Fold the strips in half and press with your iron. Sew the raw edges together using a 1/4-inch seam allowance.

Attach the Dowel Pockets

Follow the fusible web instructions to attach the dowel pockets onto the back of the shade using the fusible web. Align them with the lines that you drew to make where the dowel rods go.

Slide the dowel rods through each of the pockets you created.

Clip Corners and Turn

Use your scissors to clip the corners of your shade, being careful not to cut through any stitching. It will be a little bit finicky to turn with the dowel rods in, but you should be able to do it with a little bit of fiddling.

Poke out the corners and press the shade edges with your iron.

Sew the Bottom Hem

Create a blind hem to neatly hem up the bottom of the Roman shade. To do this, fold the bottom of the shade up by 1/4 inch and press. Fold it up another 1 1/4 inches to hide the first hem.

Sew the hem with your sewing machine, being careful to sew in a straight line, because this stitching will be seen from the front.

Insert Slat of Wood

Take your piece of wood and insert it into the top slot.

Sew on the Rings

Take a plastic ring and place it at the end of each dowel rod. Hand sew each ring on each side of the dowels. This will be where the curtain cord is guided through.

Insert the Eye Screws

Insert the eye screws into the top right and the top left, attaching them to the slat of wood. They should be 3 inches from each end.

Finish the Roman Shade

Thread the thin nylon string through the eye screws and the plastic rings. The Roman shade can be lowered and raised by using both strings. It's now ready to be mounted on your window!