Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Faux Roman

When my son was in Rome for the first time many years ago and again this yearthere were these all about town... a FAUX ROMAN!


Here is my version for my latest laundry room One Room Challenge:


Knowing it was not an operable shade but just a valance I used one yard of "Cub Fossil" fabric
and purchased drapery lining for the reverse side.

I sewed them together in one large rectangle and ironed the seams before reversing it to the front and finishing all edges.

I couldn't find a trim I liked that went with my area rug so we remembered Bethany had some leftover fabric "Fratelli Tea Rose" from her master bedroom One Room Challenge and the color is brilliant and the perfect coral color.


So I cut 3" strips and ironed over the edges and because the fabric was so thick I used 'stitch witchery' inside the ironed seams to hold them in place until I could sew them on.
I wanted the corners to look special and tried several arrangements .





Then I decided on a picture frame corner and I 'tacked' it by hand so it would 'stay' before sewing it down on the machine.  




I have professionally made roman shades all over my home, made by our local workshop.  Simple, I thought, just copy what they did. It can't be 'brain surgery'.




I bought the plastic rings, the correct string, and proceeded to spend an hour or so measuring and remeasuring the placement of the rings so they were straight and I did 5 rows in the back to keep it from sagging.  MUCH HARDER THAN IT SEEMS! I sewed on all the rings and secured the strings and TA DA!


It was AWFUL, crooked, didn't hang right. (wasn't picture worthy!)  I even fastened it on to the header board and tied them up to the valance height I wanted and STILL AWFUL. It was midnight by this time, and I hated it. So I took off all the strings and the plastic rings, back to a plain rectangle of fabric, and square one (or two).

The next day I folded the front folds to LOOK like I wanted it, pinned it,  turned it over and hand stitched it in place.  The key is to tack it up across the fold in alot of rows to prevent sagging. This was 53" wide and I had 5 vertical rows.


So I staple gunned it onto a 1" x 3" board, wrapped the fabric around it and screwed into the ceiling.


It's not going anywhere and I am certainly not going to do this for clients- that's why we use a workroom, but dang, our whole mantra is to try things ourselves so we know how they are made.  I have been letting these romans get the best of me! I should buy a pattern next time- what a novel idea.

Have you had any luck with roman shades?  I know there are alot of DIY's out there, I have seen many of them, and tried to follow a few. I must have a ROMAN brain block.

Nancy

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15 comments:

  1. Nancy, your faux roman valance looks fab-U-lous. My sewing machine is in reverse and I don't even know which switch to flip--not kidding!

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  2. It looks amazing. Way better than my first and only attempt at Roman Shades in Tagg's nursery. They sag so much!

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  3. Ha! VERY similar to my tutorial (still in the works)! It looks SO professtional!

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  4. Yours looks great! I love the trim best.
    I made one years ago that was awful too and I worked in a workroom! The strings are the hard part. The workroom used a proper shade mechanism and I did not.

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  5. now this is genius! I wish I could sew, but since I'm too old to learn...well...let's just say...a person can do a lot of things that aren't going anywhere with some good hot glue!

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  6. by the way...love the fabric and trim...colors and pattern!

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  7. Nancy, faux or not, what matters to me is that it LOOKS darn good! I wouldn't know faux from real by looking at it! You did a great job on this one for sure!

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  8. Looks fab and you get kuddos for do it yourself. i would have totally hire it myself! LOL!!!

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  9. I can't sew a stitch so I wouldn't even attempt a project like this - even for myself and even using stitch witchery. Too far out of my comfort zone, but it looks fantastic from here!

    www.chattafabulous.blogspot.com

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  10. Well done! I have made a few Roman shades in my early days; at the same time I sewed diapers! but have sworn off them since then. That would be 22 years:) God Bless the talented and patient people in the work rooms!

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  11. well I think they turned out great. I gave up on the DIY front a while back. I had taken in a chair (that I had recovered myself) to my upholsterer b/c I was ready for something new. He took one look at the chair and said "oh my gosh! who did this to this chair?" I lied and said "i dont know I just picked it up at a yard sale recently" LOL

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  12. I absolutely love the fabric choice and the trim color! And, it really looks fabulous!

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