Pretty Little Green Things

I had every intention of completing my weekend project today – sewing and installing a new roman shade for the kitchen.  In fact, if you remember, I made a pledge a few weeks ago that I was going to tackle one home project each weekend both as something to show on Pretty Little Green Things, but also as a kick in the pants to finally “finish” our apartment.  Well, as we all know, pledges and real life are sometimes two very different things.  And let me tell you, life won the battle this weekend.  But rather than give up and move on to a new topic, I thought I’d post my roman shade progress as a little teaser for you.  And by next weekend, hopefully you’ll see the completed product!

Here’s my lovely fabric!  It’s from Mod Green Pod, who, if you’re not familiar, make brightly colored and fun patterned organic fabric.  I was lucky enough to not only get the fabric on super sale, but also find it in the exact navy blue color I was searching for.

Another peek at the fabric with my lovely sewing machine in the background.  My quilter mom made sure I had a good quality sewing machine as soon as I moved to New York.

And here we go!

I’ve been a bit obsessive searching for how-to’s on making a roman shade.  It’s actually a fairly complicated procedure and I was nervous getting it all right.  There’s not a lot of forgiveness if you make a mistake in your measurements.  From my vast searching, I found that one of the easier to follow how-to’s came from Martha Stewart (who else, right?).  If you’re thinking of trying the same thing, here’s a link to her instructions.

You have to measure EVERYTHING very precisely when you make a fabric shade.  So here I am trusty pencil and measuring tape in hand.

Pinned and ready to be sewn!

While we were out and about today we passed by a pile of random stuff waiting to be picked up for trash collection.  Normally I take a quick glance to see if there’s anything good and then continue on my way.  But today, this bamboo blind sitting on top of the pile caught my eye.  We quickly nabbed it for the extra hardware and mounting board.  Reduce, reuse, recycle!

By the time I got to the part when you sew the rings on the back of the shade, it was getting late and I was getting tired.  There are a ton of rings that get sewn on the back, just fyi!

Here’s your last sneak peek of the sewn panel & lining.  There’s still plenty left to do, so there will be more to come!

I had every intention of completing my weekend project today – sewing and installing a new roman shade for the kitchen.  In fact, if you remember, I made a pledge a few weeks ago that I was going to tackle one home project each weekend both as something to show on Pretty Little Green Things, but also as a kick in the pants to finally “finish” our apartment.  Well, as we all know, pledges and real life are sometimes two very different things.  And let me tell you, life won the battle this weekend.  But rather than give up and move on to a new topic, I thought I’d post my roman shade progress as a little teaser for you.  And by next weekend, hopefully you’ll see the completed product!

Here’s my lovely fabric!  It’s from Mod Green Pod, who, if you’re not familiar, make brightly colored and fun patterned organic fabric.  I was lucky enough to not only get the fabric on super sale, but also find it in the exact navy blue color I was searching for.

Another peek at the fabric with my lovely sewing machine in the background.  My quilter mom made sure I had a good quality sewing machine as soon as I moved to New York.

And here we go!

I’ve been a bit obsessive searching for how-to’s on making a roman shade.  It’s actually a fairly complicated procedure and I was nervous getting it all right.  There’s not a lot of forgiveness if you make a mistake in your measurements.  From my vast searching, I found that one of the easier to follow how-to’s came from Martha Stewart (who else, right?).  If you’re thinking of trying the same thing, here’s a link to her instructions.

You have to measure EVERYTHING very precisely when you make a fabric shade.  So here I am trusty pencil and measuring tape in hand.

Pinned and ready to be sewn!

While we were out and about today we passed by a pile of random stuff waiting to be picked up for trash collection.  Normally I take a quick glance to see if there’s anything good and then continue on my way.  But today, this bamboo blind sitting on top of the pile caught my eye.  We quickly nabbed it for the extra hardware and mounting board.  Reduce, reuse, recycle!

By the time I got to the part when you sew the rings on the back of the shade, it was getting late and I was getting tired.  There are a ton of rings that get sewn on the back, just fyi!

Here’s your last sneak peek of the sewn panel & lining.  There’s still plenty left to do, so there will be more to come!