How To Make A Fabric Roller Shade :: Simple Sewing Projects - Easy Free Sewing Lessons

Do you want an attractive window treatment that you can easily lower to block out the light and provide privacy... with minimal sewing?

Then a fabric roller shade is the perfect window treatment for you.

I'm going to show you exactly how to make a fabric roller shade that will easily lower and raise with a bead chain.

Supplies

Roller Shade Clutch Kit (includes bead chain, clutch, brackets, shade roller, wood slat and double face tape)
Fabric for the front of your roller shade
Shade cloth that is at least 2" wider than the final width of your shade
Laminating Adhesive
Fringe Adhesive
Straight Edge (longer the better)
Rotary Cutter (this creates clean straight edges)
New sharp blade for rotary cutter
Rotary Matt (larger the better)
2 low nap paint rollers (3/16" thick)
Masking tape (1" wide)
Lint brush
You can find your roller shade clutch kit, shade cloth, and adhesives at www.draperysewingsupplies.com

Flat surface to lay your entire shade (this may have to be your kitchen floor)
or you can create a surface by getting a piece of plywood that's larger than your finished shade dimensions and lay a rotary mat on top of it.

Step 1. Measure the inside width of your window frame.

Your shade final width will be this measurement MINUS 15/16"

Note: these instructions are for an inside mount. A fabric roller shade can be mounted on the outside of your window too. But to simplify these instructions, I chose the most popular method. You can easily take this method and apply it to an outside mount.

Step 2. Install the roller shade brackets. Make sure you install the brackets low enough so that the large round clutch part has room to rotate. The bracket will insert into the center of this piece (don't do that yet). But this will help you decide how low you need to install the brackets.

Step 3. Measure from the top of the bracket down to the window sill. This is your shade's final length.

Step 4. Lay your shade cloth onto your work surface and measure in from the left edge 1" and mark with a sharpee. Do this in several places and draw a line down the left side of your shade cloth. Your shade cloth edges are square, so the line you draw should be parrallel to the edge. If not, measure again.

Step 5. Measure up from the bottom edge of your shade cloth about an 1" and draw a line across your cloth.

The lines in step 4 and step 5 should be square to each other. You can easily check this with a T-square or right angle.

At this point, you may be wondering which side of the shade cloth you should use. One side has a matte finish and the other side is shiny. You can use either side. If you like the shiny side, then you will work on the matte side and glue the fabric to the matte side, so that the shiny side faces out your window.

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