first attempt at roman blind

[southportgirl]

my daughter has bought some material in the sales and wants 2 small roman blinds made. i have made ordinary straight curtains and done a couple of quilts so am not too bad using a sewing machine. would anyone be abe to give me some advice please on a couple of things.
1. does anyone know of a good website that gives nice and easy instructions.
2. the name of a reputable supplier
3. any recommendations on what works better than other ideas (have seem mention of tapes, chains etc)
4. blinds are needed for 2 very small hall windows so would it be better to have blinds fitting inside the recess or outside a bit ike a pelmet idea
5. because the windows are so small she doesn't really want/need them to be actually used i.e. pulling them up and down, she only wants a couple of pleats to get the look of a roman blind, is this a good idea?


sorry for so many questions but now she has bought the material she is all gung ho to get started, sorry gung ho for me to get started.

[PaulaRoo]

Hi, I have made roman blinds, both ways, with dowling and with the fibre glass.
I prefer fibre glass as you sew it on after rather than trying to make a tunnel to fit the dowling.
Think of it as a pilow case hanging up with the neat end at top, that is what you are aiming for to fit the window precisely, then sew on the tape that takes the fibre glass, you will need advice on how many supports you need according to the window size. The strings are not as complicated as they look.

[southportgirl]

thanks for the reply. do you find the blinds look better inside the recess or on the ouside of the window, as i said a bit like a pelmet look.

[magenta123]

Hi there.
inside the recess looks much better in my opinion. i use fibre glass rods as lighter in weight, thinner but be careful not to touch the ends too much as the fibre glass splinters a little and can make your fingers itch. I actually create a chanel within the lining to insert the rods. i add 2 cm per rod. sew a straight line just in the lining before adding to the blind. so if lining is going to be 20cm long with 2 rods i d add 24cm? measure out where rod will go and sew the chanel togetehr. then add lining to the top fabric. you d have to either by hand or machine sew where the rods go so that it attaches to teh front fabric.

[southportgirl]

thanks very much. i have found a site, not sure if i can mention it, but it's a bit like an idiots guide to roman blinds and seems to be exactly what i need. i like the sound of little pockets for the rods. just have to measure up now and order the bits and pieces.