rolled fabric shades

A few years ago, I started making fabric shades. I wanted something different for my windows that would allow me to raise and lower based on my mood. Even the ability to insulate the windows in winter from the harsh cold. When I started to re-do my guest room, I thought I would document it for you.

It is essential that you get the right type of fabric for your shade. The very best is a medium weight, non stretchy fabric.

Some of the things I've tried are:

- Upholstery fabric with a insulating liner. The is a good choice, but the problem is when you roll them up, the fabric bunches up near the ends of the roller. It looks fine, but you have to adjust the fabric every time.

- Light weight fabrics REALLY bunch up - just stay away from those. You could also try interfacing if you have your heart set on a light weight fabric - but that would be a lot of interfacing!

- I even tried surging the fabric onto the vinyl shade for stability. Looked awful- had to throw away the fabric and vinyl. Absolutely hated it.

- I haven't tried adhesive glue - but I would imagine that would be the same as surging it. Just not good.

So, far I like this fabric type - from fabric.com. It rolls up nicely and when you unroll it - it blocks all light from the room. Plus it comes in all kinds of different colors.

The first thing you do after buying your vinyl shade for your window, is to unroll it and take the vinyl off. It's just glued on, so carefully just pull it off the roller. I then used the vinyl as a guide for my fabric. The vinyl was way longer than I really needed for the window, but I used it to make sure my width was good.

Set aside the vinyl and use it for something else. I eventually used it when I painted as a floor drop cloth.

When you tear off the vinyl, pay attention to how to rolls and take a marker and indicate it on the roller. It will matter. I've had to undo all my staples once because I didn't pay attention to how it's suppose to roll.

In this case, my roller was 36 inches wide, so I cut my fabric to be 36 1/2 inches to accommodate the surged ends.

Then straighten the ends up. Make sure they are perfect because it will show when you have it finally  rolled up and on the window.

I surged all sides of the fabric. I did not do a hem on the sides because it will thicken the fabric at the end and cause it to bunch up when it rolls up and down. Use a color that blends in with the fabric.

I did a hem for the bottom anchor. Make it nice and snug. This came out of the vinyl and works great to anchor and weigh the fabric.

Line up the fabric on your roller and take a staple gun and staple it nice and secure.

It's easy to take out the staples if you mess up somehow - or if you want to redo your shade, like in this case.

Here it is on the window. It's not a very good picture because the fabric did a great job keeping sunlight out of the room. But you get the idea.

I paired it up with some nice fabric that matched - and I love it! I love the colors and I love having the option to adjust the length based on how I feel that day.