IT *LOOKS* PRETTY EASY to make your own fabric roller shade. Click through to the continuing page for instructions from my 1959 booklet by the Consolidated Trimming Corporation. And, I have a few tips of my own, based on my personal experience doing sewing and with these types of shades.  Regarding the window above: Isn’t it hilariously wonderful? Notice how they designers have tricked us into believing the window is taller than it really is, with the addition of the second rod of scalloped cafe curtains at the bottom. Looks impractical given the supposed eating going on, but an interesting idea nonetheless. 

The instructions for making your own fabric roller shades are in the page-scan below. (For your legibility, I inserted them as large as possible “bleeding” into the blog to some degree.)

Additional thoughts from my own experience:

• I have also read somewhere about the desirability of “stiffening” the fabric. I think you can do this using regular spray starch – you’ll probably want to experiment with a swatch of your fabric first to get the right solution, pun intended. I did some quick online searching (not comprehensive by any means) and found another fabric stiffener apparently used by crafters here
• You can get your basic supplies for the rod assembly, simple pull-down style, from most hardware stores. In these different online instructions, you can see the parts needed – and there are some additional tips on using glue at certain points in the process.
• Regarding the sewing itself: You are only going to use one piece of fabric – no piecing two pieces vertically, it will bunch up.
• And regarding the edges – while these instructions say that you can make a hem, I am skeptical. I think it will bunch up on the roller, at the edges, too much. Better to try and see whether you can avoid making hems in the sides by using the starch to “seal” the edges so that they will not fray. Hmmm, this may be tricky. Experiment.

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ARE YOU LOOKING FOR an authentic midcentury window treatment that is  “simpler” and/or less expensive than pinch-pleat draperies or horizontal blinds — especially when it comes to a smaller window? Roller shades are a great alternative to add to your stable of choices.

Here are three ways to recreate the style:

1. Simple, “pull-down” shades are available at many local hardware stores, and the big-box hardware stores have them, too. In both places, they cut them to your size, on site. When you go in, be sure to know whether you want to install them inside the window frame, or outside, and be ready with your measurements for both height and width. Roller shades from the hardware store are generally very inexpensive, but the options can be quite limited – white or almond-colored vinyl only, with kind of cheesy trim (as I recall). You might also find these at estate sales — used or unused — and if you can be patient, you can find them for a song.
2. Another alternative is a fabric shade custom made to your specs from companies like Smith & Noble. I have these in my bedrooms, with a scalloped edge and tassel-y trim (called “gimp”). I also paid for the cassete upgrade – which allows me to lower and raise them with a pulley system.  Fabric roller shades are available from a wide number of manufacturers. And, they can be ordered in all kinds of fabrics. In the main image above — from 1952 — you can see “oatmeal” and “shantung” fabrics — these kinds of fabrics are still very commonly available today… they’re what I used.
3. If you are really handy – you can sew your own shade from fabric, or glue fabric straight onto an inexpensive shade cut to size from the hardware store or an estate sale. Watch tomorrow for a post on how to make your own fabric shades based on vintage 1959 instructions.

Notes:

• I ordered my bedroom shades, I labored over whether to buy the “black-out” design that totally blocks light, or the more translucent design. I decided on the translucent because we thought it would be nice to be awakened each day by the light slowing permeating the room. I think this choice is very personal… but it’s one more issue you will want to think about before making a final choice.
• And in my bedrooms, I ultimately added pinch pleats over the roller shades. This layered effect is wonderful. And, if you are new to your home…and need immediate privacy…but want to wait to find the perfect set of draperies…you can install the roller shades right away and then take the time you need to find draperies (thrifted, new or home-made.)

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