Work in progress: roman blind

As all the work on the house finally nears completion, I'm glad to report there is no more painting to do, so I took the opportunity last night to get started on the roman blind for the landing window.  All the bits for the blind seemed a bit complicated to gather up, so I was really pleased to find these roman blind kits for sale, at a really reasonable price.  I ordered two a week ago, and they arrived the next day by Fedex - brilliant service from Terry's Fabrics!  It meant all I needed to do was buy my fabric, and I was ready for action.

The kit also came with a little instruction leaflet, which gives you step by step instructions on what to sew, and how to put everything together.  I cut out the fabric to the instructions, and then hemmed.  One little issue I did have was that there was only 2cm at either side for hemming - which as it turns out isn't quite enough for me!  My estimate 'by eye' of the length of a centimetre was a little overly generous, but I got there in the end!

I then needed to sew on the roman blind tape - basically, a velcro strip which sticks the blind to the baton at the top.  By this stage the fabric was very thick, as there were quite a few layers, and I was aiming to get as near to the edge as possible.  Apart from a few wobbles, though, I got both edges sewn securely.

A pocket is required at the bottom of the blind, for the heaviest rod to go into, to ensure the blind hangs straight.  The pocket is about 5cm, leaving plenty of space for the rod to slide in.

Finally, I used the pre-cut loop tape provided in the pack, and sewed this evenly along the blind - doing my best to make sure each tape was parallel.  The tapes are used to slide the rods into, so the blind folds up, so it's important to make sure they are parallel.  One error I realised I'd made once the first row of sewing was done is that my tapes are 20cm apart - and as the final piece of blind doesn't have a fold, it will be longer than the other pieces. It's certainly not the biggest issue I could have had though - and I'll know for next time!

I'm hoping to get the blind finished in the next few days, so watch this space for the finished product...!