08 December 2011

DIY: CASUAL ROMAN SHADE.

How adorable is my good friend Amy?


She's the mastermind and incredible talent behind Sweet Tea Imagery, my very favorite Charleston wedding / family / lifestyle photographers. Truly--she's brilliant! See?

 Not only is she incredibly fun, sweet, and unbelievably skilled with that camera of hers, but she's entirely professional and knows the very best beach and historic district spots for the most amazing background settings. If you're ever headed to Charleston, look her up and getch-you some family photos! (Yep, I make up words.) And tell her I sent you :)

Anyway, I've been helping miss Amy plan a little design update to her adorable kitchen nook, and was blown away by a DIY project I spotted on her dining room window. If you know me at all you know that I lust over roman shades and their elegant simplicity, but they're pretty pricey to have made so I haven't bit the bullet on outfitting my own windows with them. Well, problem now solved, thanks to Amy and her DIY  skills!

Check it out:



[ disclaimer: the terribly terrible photos are by me, not Amy. She is probably cringing at the sight! ]


Doesn't this casual roman shade look amazing? I love the soft, restful lines of the curved bottom, and the interest that the ribbon-tie creates. And that ikat fabric Amy chose is amazing! It really makes her dining room fresh, cozy, and totally put-together.

The best part? Amy says the entire project is super simple (only 7 easy steps), and requires minimal sewing skills (you could even use stitch witchery to hem the edges and create the rod pocket if you don't sew!).

Here are her directions:

1. Find a fabric you like that's wider than the width of your window by at least 5 inches to allow for hemming. Purchase enough yardage (in length) to go 10 inches past the bottom of the window (from where you've installed your curtain rod), to allow for rolling and hemming.

2.  Hem each side of the fabric so the shade will span 1.5 inches past the outside window edge or moulding. (Say your window is 36 inches wide. You'd want the finished width of the shade to be 39 inches, so each side rests 1.5 inches from the window edge.)

3. Turn under the top and bottom edges, and hem. 
4.  To create the pole pocket, fold over the top hem (leaving enough room for the circumference of the pole to slide through), and sew in place.

5.  Now you just have to attach the ribbon! Amy tacked each ribbon length (4 total, 2 for each side) to the top, backside of the curtain, about 4-5 inches from the outside edge. She then ran 2 pieces of ribbon (1 on each side) down the front of the curtain to meet the 2 pieces hanging in the back. (You can run a hand stitch to help keep the ribbon in place, or use fabric glue!) 

6. Turn your nearly-finished shade wrong-side-up and begin rolling the bottom hem til your happy with your shade's length, and tie those ribbons you just tacked on! A helpful hint: Amy used an extra piece of shoe mold to help her roll the fabric and keep it straight, and then just slid it out when she was happy with her roll!

7. Now hang that pretty!!!

So how easy is that?! If you decide to embark on making your very own casual roman shade, feel free to email me with any questions you come up with along the way! hannah@hannahmaple.com

And please...I'd love to see photos of your end result!

And a huge thank-you to Amy for being so DIY-savvy...and amazing!



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