I’m a CHEATER!

But only in the world of decorating of course! Here’s my cheat:

When we first moved into this house almost 5 years ago, we had to make a quick decision on some window coverings for the Master bedroom .  We chose brown Roman blinds. That seemed safe. White was tricky because I’m picky about my whites – they usually have to be a warm white. (For you colour virgins, this just means there’s yellow in the white as opposed to blue, which would make it a cool white.)  Since then we’ve reno’d the bedroom (future post!).  I no longer thought the brown worked.  They seemed heavy and too dark. I was going for a beachy fresh look now.  So! after a lot of musing and pondering, I came up with a pretty darn good idea that actually worked for me and should you find yourself in my same pickle, it could work for you too.

The original blinds were around $200.00 and as I have stated too many times, I am dollar challenged,  so I needed a thrifty but beautiful solution.  The blinds themselves are an odd size, 33″ wide by 62″ long, with a separate 7″ header that covers the mechanics.  Oh and did I mention – I am a straight seam only sewer? No pressure to figure this out.  Oh, but I do!

On a recent venture over the border, I entered into the budget friendly world of Target. Love love that place. I wandered around and around looking for my window covering solution. And there it was… (cue angels singing). The shower curtain isle!  I found a $20.00, vintage inspired, cotton shower curtain (The kind that needs a separate plastic shower liner). I found fusable iron-on tape.  I could have danced, I could have cried tears of joy, I love it when a plan comes together.  The best part was that the shower curtain was 72″ x 72″.  This meant ONE shower curtain was all I needed to complete my transformation –  oh, and coffee, lotsa coffee.  But I say that for everything.

These are the supplies you will need: Your cotton shower curtain choice –  if you have other ideas like a table cloth, sheet or duvet cover, curtain panel or actual fabric, feel free to use that, but remember to make sure the fabric is light-weight since you are fusing it directly to the existing blinds. This will add weight to the entire blind and if it’s too heavy it could cause strain on the string mechanism. You will need at least an inch extra fabric all the way around to fold over the edges of most of the blind. You will need scissors, an iron and ironing board or flat surface you can iron on – NOT YOUR CARPET!  No melted carpet on my watch.  Also the fusing tape and a measuring tape. You also need enough flat space to lay out your original blind.

Iron the creases out of your fabric choice. Let me say at this point, once you start this project there is pretty much no going back. I say this for a couple of reasons. Of course cutting the shower curtain, well, that’s it for that,  but also the fusing iron-on tape is gooey and sticky once you add the heat from the iron.  Not only will it wreck the shower curtain but it’s probably done the same to the original blind as well. But never mind, I’ve done the experiment for you and it’s all good.  From here I will describe the process for my blind, you will of course need to adjust the cutting etc. to suit yours.

After I cut the shower curtain in half lengthwise, I laid the curtain on top of the blind being as straight as possible matching the edges along the top.  I then laid the header at the bottom of the curtain where the remainder of the unused fabric was making sure there was enough fabric to fold over. Cut the header piece out.

This is where you stop and read the instructions on the fusing tape. Really read them. Then do what they say.  There are logical steps you’ll figure out as you go pertaining to your own blind,  like not covering any Velcro on the header if there is any and try to wrap your corners like you would a present, things like that. I used the fusing tape along all the edges and also where each fold is in the blind along the spines already in the original blind so that as the blind is folding up when I pull the string, there is no puckering or popping out. It stays flat nicely.  If the tape isn’t sticking to the fabric, hold the iron down a little longer, watching you don’t scorch your fabric. Somewhere down the line if the tape and fabric start to separate you can just run your iron over it again and you’re set.  Total cost: about $25.00.

Now that I’ve figured this out, I’ll probably be changing the blinds again sooner rather than later. The cost is so minimal it won’t break even MY bank.

   

If you want to try this but find I’m missing a step you need, let me know.  Or if you were brave and gave it a shot, let me know that and send pics!