Part of the reason I put off making the blinds is that I wasn't really sure the tutorial I found gave enough information for me to fully understand the process and I didn't want to ruin any of the materials I purchased. So I surfed for more tutorials and found a second one that showed more steps. I think that between the two of them, this project should be doable.
I really want these blinds to be lined. Neither tutorial used lining, but I really don't want the slats showing through. I think I was originally going to try to sandwich the blinds between the fabric and lining--this was given as a suggestion in one of the tutorials' comments. I'm really glad that I took the time this year to read through EVERY comment, because someone tried it and it did not work. So I will be making a lined panel first and then proceeding with the steps.
When I purchased everything last year I bought lining--heavy black out lining. Reconsidering it this year, I decided that it simply weighs too much to be attached to only a few plastic slats, so I purchased some lighter weight, non-black out lining instead. I also got some cheap foam brushes to spread the glue and a cardboard thing that I can use to measure and glue on and not have to worry about being super neat.
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| Some of my supplies. |
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| This is the type of lining I am using. |
I had my husband hang the blinds and took some measurements. Each of my blinds is 28-1/2" inches wide and 68-5/8" long. To make the math easier on myself, I will be using 72" for my length. I plan to have a fold every 9", so 72" divided by 9" gives me 8, which will be the number of slats I will use. I am not overly concerned with the length being several inches longer than the window because these shades are in our office and will rarely be let out to their full length.
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| This is the office window with the blinds in place. |
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| Here is my decorator fabric. |
The tutorials say to give yourself 2 - 3 inches extra beyond your measurements to allow for hemming. I am going to allow 1" extra on each side (fold under 1/2", then another 1/2"), so I will cut my fabric to a width of 30-1/2". One of the tutorials hemmed the tops and bottoms, and one didn't. I think I will do at least a small hem so that no raw edges are showing--maybe just serge the edge and then tuck it under, which would be a single 1/4" hem.
My top piece will need 2" to wrap around, plus my 1/4" hem. My bottom piece needs 1-1/4" to wrap, plus the 1/4" hem. Sooooo....2.25 + 1.5 = 3.75" extra in length. That means my cutting dimensions for each panel of decorator fabric is 75-3/4" length by 30-1/2" width. My lining pieces will be slightly smaller so that they fit within the hems of the decorator fabric.
I'm off to start ironing and cutting my fabric. Stay tuned.
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