Roman Blinds. Thinking of making my own but no confidence!

[BeerBaby]

I can sew (not clothes). In fact I love it but I've never made blinds or curtains. Got a machine and all the threads etc. We need window coverings and money is tight. I can't afford to buy Roman blinds for the amount I need. YouTube makes it look easy. Is is really as easy as it looks.


I have no confidence in anything I do at the moment.

[storkdelivery]

I was an absolute sewing beginner and I made one for our kitchen, which turned out really well. I left it unlined as it is primarily decorative rather than functional (we don’t need to open/close it regularly) although it does work properly. I used a kit from (I think) Terry’s Blinds and it was easy to put together.

I’d say go for it!

[LIZS]

It is pretty straightforward, lots of straight stitching but spacing the channels correctly is important.

[heidiwine]

Im sorry to be so down about this but I can sew and I think that functional roman blinds are really hard to make (sorry!).
There are some things you have to get right for them to properly and neatly open and close:

1. the fabric must be cut totally straight and this is harder than it seems.
   
2. the rods need to be positioned properly in the lining and then attached securely and neatly to the front (sewing through both lining and front fabric)
   
   Basically in my opinion if you're not confident with sewing a straight line on a sewing machine through more than one layer of fabric you run the risk of ending up with blinds that look home made (which could be ok). You also have to buy all the fixings which aren't that cheap (I've covered cheap IKEA blinds before as I thought it would be cheaper and less hassle than starting from scratch )
   
   Curtains in the other hand are pretty straightforward although more expensive because you'll need more material.
   
   That said there are some great you tube tutorials and if you really carefully follow the advice and are really precise in your cutting and stitching they could turn out really well.

[BuzzKillington]

I made a lined roman blind and it really was very easy and it looks great. People kept asking me where I had it made, so it must look good!

I used a YouTube tutorial.