Master Class. How to sew Roman blinds with your own hands from scrap materials.

Roman blinds were borrowed from Roman sailors. And in those days and now, the Roman blind is made according to the same principle by which sails were made in those distant times: a piece of fabric that can be raised and lowered.

Moreover, this piece of fabric is completely straight, without any draperies.

Roman blinds are designed to either completely block out sunlight or, on the contrary, let it through, but at the same time reliably protecting you from indiscreet glances.

In the latter case, for Roman blinds you need to select translucent fabrics.

Sewing a simple Roman blind with your own hands is not particularly difficult. You just need to know how to do it.

A Roman blind can be made by purchasing a special curtain rod with a lifting mechanism from a specialized store, which will cost you quite a bit.

face curtains


face curtains

Now let's start decorating the top edge of the curtain. To do this, place the curtain on the table with the front side facing you and mark its final length (height) from the bottom edge of the curtain. We draw a line along its entire width:

DIY roman blinds

DIY Roman blinds
The bend should be 2cm (as in the pattern diagram). Iron by folding these 2 cm onto the wrong side of the curtain:

We place the soft part of the Velcro tape on this bend. We combine the top edge of the curtain with the edge of the tape, stitch first on one side of the tape, then on the other. The tape will cover the raw edge of the curtain because its width is 2.5 cm:

Decorate the top and bottom edges

To prevent your Roman curtain from looking boring and monotonous, we suggest considering several ways to decorate it. So, the top edge can be decorated with a traditional lambrequin. Moreover, it can be both hard and soft, with both a straight edge and an oblique one.

To make a solid lambrequin with your own hands, you will need a rigid base, it can be in the form of thick cardboard. We are making a pattern for the decoration, keep in mind that this type of lambrequin should be long and completely cover the upper part of the side edges of the Roman canvas. We cut out the blank, use glue to place the fabric on a cardboard base of the same shape. Let the structure dry. To install a Roman blind with a lambrequin, you will need a special double cornice, which you can make yourself or order from a specialized store.


A solid lambrequin gives the image a strict and complete look.

With a soft lambrequin the situation is simpler. Its production does not require much effort and time. To do this, first decide what shape it will be, perhaps even from another similar fabric. You can make a simple lambrequin in the form of a long flounce along the entire width of the curtain. Or it will be a decor in the form of a strip of fabric hanging beautifully in the center, and its edges on the sides. In general, your imagination has no limits and you can come up with a completely extraordinary way of decorating.

It is more common for us to decorate the upper part of curtains of any type, but everyone has forgotten about the lower part, but we have not. That is why we will tell you and show in the photo how to do it beautifully and tastefully. For a rustic-style kitchen with the presence of strict Roman blinds, which you even sewed yourself, a certain cold appears, and to melt it, decorate the lower edge of the canvas with romantic wide lace or flounce made of the same fabric. Tassel fringe, to your surprise, is a great way to add variety to the traditional look of lift curtains.

DIY roman blinds


do-it-yourself Roman blinds
This is what the wrong side of the curtain should look like:

How to sew different types of curtains, watch video master classes HERE.

The sewing of the curtain itself is finished. Now you need to insert slats and a weight bar into it and equip it with a lifting mechanism of your own making. And also make a homemade cornice on which our curtain will be attached.

For all this we need glazing beads for the slats, a block for the cornice, and for the weight strip I took a piece of cash:

Fabric selection

Roman blinds can be made from any fabric. The choice will depend on several parameters:

  • light blocking level;
  • the weight that the selected mount will support;
  • availability of a sewing machine;
  • type of product (frameless, cascade or classic);
  • Experience in cutting complex materials.

Most often, novice craftsmen choose curtain fabrics that practically do not transmit light. However, the very concept of Roman blinds implies a decorative and aesthetic use of textiles. The fabric should hide what is happening at home from prying eyes and block direct sunlight, but the material can be light and airy.

If you don’t know which fabric to choose, look at the work of world-famous interior designers - cotton, linen, mixed fabrics and tulle or taffeta are the trends. If you are sewing Roman blinds for the kitchen, it would be better to choose synthetic materials (polyester or nylon) that do not absorb odor, are easily machine washable and treated with a fire-resistant mixture.

materials for lifting mechanism

materials for the lifting mechanism
It is necessary to cut 64 cm pieces from glazing beads, cashing and bars. 1 cm less than the width of the curtain.

For this I used a jigsaw:

First, let's make a homemade cornice. To do this, we cover the block with fabric. Hot glue and a stapler will help us with this:

Recommendations for sewing beginners

If you decide to sew such a decoration yourself, the first rule is to boldly get to work. Experienced designers advise:

  • when choosing a material, pay attention to its density - the smaller it is, the more time and effort it will take, so beginners should purchase dense fabrics;
  • if the purpose of sewing is to minimize the penetrating light, it is better to use blackout fabric, which even a beginner can handle;
  • You shouldn’t buy too bright a fabric, just choose a calm shade that will fit into the overall interior;
  • if the window is too wide, then it is rational to sew two curtains from the same material and open them alternately;
  • Think about the design of your future window decoration in advance; you may want to add elements from other varieties, for example, take a London curtain as a basis.

homemade cornice


homemade cornice

Hot glue the hard part of the Velcro tape to the bottom edge of the fabric-covered block. To be safe, you can go around in several places with a stapler:

I attached fasteners to the back of our block so that the block could be hung on the wall. But this method is only suitable if your curtain will hang outside the window opening. To fasten the bar inside the window opening, it is better to use corners.

If there are men in the house, they will figure out how to do this:

That's it, our homemade cornice is ready. And we will attach our curtain to it with Velcro tape:

Now we insert the weight strip and slats into the curtain pockets:

This is what the curtain looks like from the inside out now:

DIY roman blinds


DIY Roman blinds
from the face:

Now we place the curtain on the table face down and sew plastic rings in three rows to the pockets for the slats. The outer rows should be located at a distance of 2.5 cm from the side edges of the curtain:

Step 8. Connect the lining to the front side

Place the lining on top of the facing fabric. The lining should extend 2 cm on the sides from the edges. Secure the fabric with pins. Check with a ruler whether the pocket spots match the front side.

Fold the bottom part of the facing fabric in half to form a pocket for the weighting material. Cover the resulting pocket with a lining on top.

Hand sew the lining to the facing fabric using a hidden seam.

Sweep the corners, but so that there is room for inserting the weighting agent.

The lining in the corner should not be completely sewn. This will make it possible to insert and remove the weighting material.

Fold over the top part with Velcro and sew it also using a hidden seam.

DIY roman blinds


DIY roman blinds

Layout of slats and rings on a Roman blind:

We place the curtain rod on the table and attach the curtain to it:

Building a pattern

An approximate pattern for Roman blinds looks like this:

To make a step-by-step pattern according to the rules, for clarity, let’s take the size 120x220 cm.

The width of the inner side of the curtain is equal to the width of the window itself - 1 cm. To this figure you need to add 1.5 cm on all sides for gaps. If the product will be installed on the outside of the window, then it is worth leaving an additional 5 cm.

So, on the back side the width was: 120-1+1.5+1.5=122, and on the outside using similar calculations – 128.

Roman curtains can be made double, and also decorated with braid or slats inserted, so for the hem we add 3 cm at the top and 7.5 cm at the bottom, it turns out 229.5 cm.

It is necessary to calculate the space for the pockets. One pocket is 1.8 cm, multiply this number by 2 and get 3.6 cm. Next you need to determine their total number, while the width of the folds can be about 25-30 cm.

Next you need to divide the selected size and get 7.3. Accordingly, we reveal the total number of pockets - 6 (since we remove 1.3 for the gap).

The total width of the pockets will be 21.6 cm.

As a result, the total width of the Roman blind will be 251.1 cm.

How to calculate the number of folds

Calculating the total number of folds can become problematic, so it is better to use the following scheme:

On the canvas you will need to mark conditional lines for future folds. It is important that they are separated by equal intervals, otherwise the gathers will be disproportionate and the product will look slightly lopsided.

how to sew roman blinds


how to sew roman blinds

We turn the curtain along with the curtain rod with the wrong side facing us and on the curtain rod we mark the location of the iron lugs, which we will screw into the bar from its lower side to attach the curtain lifting mechanism:

For the ears, I bought these hooks at the store and bent them into rings with pliers:

There should be 4 lugs screwed in: three opposite the rings and one from the edge of the block through which you will remove the lifting bolt. I chose the right edge of the curtain.

Bar with screwed ears:

Here is a diagram for clarity, but there are only 3 ears on it:

According to this diagram, we will make a lifting mechanism for our curtains. To do this, take 3 pieces of cord. Each segment should be equal to: two heights of the curtain plus its width.

I took the cord I had. You can buy in the store in any other color:

What you might need

To make Roman blinds, you will need the necessary materials and tools that you will need to buy in advance, and perhaps something from the list will be at your home.

  • Fabric, thread, scissors, needles.
  • Tape measure for measuring and cutting.
  • Wooden or plastic weight strips.
  • Velcro tape for fixing the canvas on the cornice.
  • Rods made of wood, plastic or metal that will pierce the curtain and form folds.
  • Plastic rings, there should be two or three rings per twig.
  • Nylon cords: 3 pieces, 2 of which are twice the length of the curtain, the third is the length plus the width.


Prepare fabric, a sewing machine and all the necessary tools and accessories for sewing Roman blinds

how to sew a roman blind

We thread the cords to the top row of rings. You need to repeat this with all the cords. Then we bring the cords through the ears to one side of the curtain. In our curtain, we draw it to the right (from the inside to the left):

When all the cords are brought out through the last eyelet, we secure them together with a knot:

Then we continue to fasten our cords together, weaving them into a braid of the length we need:

I attached a ring from a round cornice to the end of our braid:

That's it, the curtain is ready:

ready-made roman blind


ready-made Roman blind
Scheme of the finished curtain:

For clarity, I hung it on the wall, just like I sewed for a lesson:

DIY roman blinds

I'll tell you about one more small nuance.

In order to fasten the curtain in a raised state, you need to attach to the wall near the window in a place convenient for you, a hook for attaching the cord, on which it will be wound in the position when the curtain is raised:

But since I didn’t have such a hook, I simply screwed a screw into the wall:

OK it's all over Now. Now you know how to sew a Roman blind with your own hands.

And this Roman curtain is sewn using the same technology, only a single piece of fabric is taken and the bottom of the curtain is decorated with a figured strip:

How to sew Roman blinds on a purchased cornice, see HERE.

Do you want to make roller blinds from wallpaper? Like these ones:

Then check out THIS ARTICLE.

If you understand this master class, then you can easily sew a type of Roman blind - London blinds, which have the same lifting mechanism:

The principle of sewing such curtains, see HERE

I would like to draw your attention to some of the shortcomings that can occur when sewing Roman blinds.

Here is a photo of a curtain made by one of the visitors to my site for this master class:


It turned out to be a nice curtain, and the main goal was achieved - darkening the room and there was no need to sew a curtain.

However, when you lift the curtains, you get these uneven folds:


This may occur due to the fact that the tension of the threads in the lifting mechanism is different. Or maybe the curtain just behaved this way when it was first raised. After sewing, you can hang the curtain, spray it with a little water from a spray bottle, lift it, lay the folds evenly and let it dry in this state. This way the folds will take the desired shape.

And another tip, do not attach the cord of the curtain lifting mechanism to the battery, as was done in this embodiment:


It’s not beautiful or convenient, especially since this is not just a master class. You have to deal with this inconvenience every day in your home.

Sewing supply stores sell very nice and inexpensive hooks that are used for hooks. The price is reasonable - 30-50 rubles. And screwing it to the wall takes five minutes.

This is the hook I used to attach the cord of a Roman blind (color: silver, cost 40 rubles):


Moreover, you can just make a few turns around it and not even tie knots, as shown in the photo with the battery. The curtain holds up perfectly and the cord does not unwind, despite the fact that it is heavy, double and made of curtain fabric on both sides:

ROMAN BLINDS AND TIPS FOR ITS MANUFACTURING OF SITE VISITORS WHO TOOK PLACE OF THIS MASTER CLASS:

Olga Sokolanski:

Today (03/29/14) I received an email from a visitor to my website:

Olga Sokolanski Here's what she writes:

"Good afternoon.

Thank you for the master class..

The windows of my apartment face west and in the summer the sun shines strongly and ordinary curtains are not suitable, and buying a good branded Roman blind is expensive for me.

I sewed a double curtain 140cm wide from cotton fabric that I found at home,

To reduce the weight of the curtain (due to the fact that the fabric is double and the curtain is wide), instead of glazing beads, I bought light and durable bamboo sticks, such sticks are sold in a flower shop:

In order for the wide curtain to rise well and fit neatly into the folds, I increased the number of lifting cords to five.

The curtain fits directly onto the cornice and to tighten it I sewed an additional drawstring and inserted a stick.

I calculated the number of folds and the width between them in my own way, guided by the length of the finished curtain and the number of sticks... according to this calculation: from the lower end of the curtain a distance equal to half the width of the fold, and then set aside the full width of the fold.

Thanks to your master class, I finally managed to sew a Roman blind!!! Hurray!! and now in the summer my curtain will reliably protect the room from the sun!

I wish you great creative success."

I thought it wouldn’t be amiss to post Olga’s ideas in this article. Maybe they will be useful to someone.

And here is the curtain sewn by Olga:

Vorobyova Natalya:

Hello, Galina!

Thank you again for the master class! As promised, I am sending photos with a short description.

I really love designing various interesting things, so the need arose to sew curtains for the kitchen. The main difficulty was that the window sill is quite spacious and there are some household appliances on it. Therefore, for convenience, I needed some special option rather than simple curtains, and following your master class, I got such a functional and comfortable curtain.

I would like to note some points:

1. A huge question arises in terms of materials for the weighting material and strips. I used metal thresholds for the weighting agent (sold in hardware stores, they are used to join linoleum, I took 30mm wide). And as strips I used a cable channel, or rather its top cover, size 15 mm.

2. For better glide, instead of cords, a 4mm thick fishing line was used. Thanks to this, the mechanism moves like clockwork through the rings.

3. To thread the plastic strips through, on the reverse side I sewed a satin ribbon reinforced with non-woven fabric to match the color of the reverse side and stitched soutache, onto which I hooked the rings.

4. To also adjust the height of the curtain, I braided several rings along the cord, the cord itself is attached to a lifting line.

Everyone who sees it is simply delighted!

I hope that my advice will help someone.

And today, November 23, 2014, another visitor to my site, Yulia Belyavskaya, sent me a photo of her work, which she completed in this master class. In my opinion, everything turned out very neatly and beautifully, in the spirit of minimalism. Such curtains emphasize the refined nature of simplicity and conciseness in the interior:

This is what Julia wrote to me in a letter with these photos:

Galina, I want to express my gratitude to you for the master class on sewing Roman blinds. THANK YOU!!! Everything is written out very clearly. I’ve been planning to sew it for a long time, probably about a year, but finally the Roman blind flaunts on my window in the kitchen :) I’m on the 4th floor, so the curtain is needed not to hide from prying eyes, but, as I wanted, translucent, for beauty. I sewed it single (since it is translucent), the slats were bamboo sticks from a flower shop (I took the advice of one of your students), I sewed the rings only in two rows (since the curtain is thin and narrow and I thought that this would be enough), My husband nailed the cornice bars directly to the window; I didn’t cover it, but I nailed Velcro tape directly to this cornice with tiny nails. Everything else is exactly according to your instructions. Thank you for your master class! Sincerely, Julia.

And another visitor to my site, Elena Shamshurina, sent me a photo of a very nice Roman blind she made.

Hello Galina! My name is Elena. I took advantage of your master class and it’s very beautiful, I think I managed to sew a curtain according to your recommendations…. Thank you very much!!!

Types of fastening

Depending on the owner’s wishes, Roman curtains can be attached:

  • on the sash;
  • on the frame;
  • into the opening;
  • on the wall;
  • on the ceiling.

The sash mount leaves the window sill open even when the curtain is closed and allows you to open the window without hindrance.

For fixed windows, mounting on a frame is preferable. In this case, the window sill also remains free.

When installing a lifting curtain in a window opening, the curtain is placed in the same plane as the wall. When lowered, it completely or partially covers the window sill.

A large one-piece curtain is attached to the wall above the window or to the ceiling. In this way, they hide the shortcomings of the window opening - uneven slopes or scratches - and visually increase its volume.

The required number of fasteners is calculated based on the number of sections.

In order not to make a mistake with the size of the curtain for mounting inside the opening, you need to measure the width of the window in 3 places: top, bottom and middle. Then subtract 2-3 mm from the minimum value. This will be the width of the future product. The length of the canvas is calculated by measuring the distance from the intended location of the cornice to the maximum lowering level.

For wall and ceiling mounting, the canvas should protrude 5-7 cm beyond the boundaries of the window opening.

Using cornices

Often complete with Roman curtains there is a cornice with all the components. In other cases, it is purchased in the same place where the curtains themselves are purchased. The cornice is an aluminum or plastic profile equipped with a control unit and a height adjustment mechanism.

For wall or ceiling mounting, choose models with a length of 1.1 to 2.5 m. If the curtain will be hung on the sash, use a smaller version of the cornice. It can be purchased ready-made or made to order.

According to the type of control, curtain rods are:

  • manual, controlled by a cord system;
  • mechanical, with a rotary-chain device;
  • with automatic regulation.

Electric models are indispensable in rooms with high ceilings or in rooms where access to the window is limited. The electric curtain rod can support curtains of any size and weight, has a silent mode for raising/lowering the curtain, convenient remote control, but its cost is quite high.

Velcro fastening

“Velcro” is a special Velcro adhesive tape, one side of which is attached to the curtain rod, the other to the canvas on the reverse side. The tape is sewn or glued onto the fabric.

The advantage of this type of fastening is the ability to quickly.

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