Blind Making
Step 3: Calculate Fabric Quantity
Printable Worksheet
This tutorial is based on using one width of fabric to make a blind. Fabric is usually approx 137cm wide, so most blinds less than 127cm wide will only need one width of fabric (check your fabric width).
The fabric panel is cut to the following size to make the blind:
FABRIC QUANTITY REQUIRED (Plain Fabric)
The PLAIN FABRIC required to make a single width roman blind is FABRIC CUT DROP + TRIMMING ALLOWANCE
PRO TIP: Add at least an extra 6cm trimming allowance to the cut drop to ensure that the fabric can be cut square during the making process.
PATTERNED FABRIC differs from PLAIN FABRIC as extra fabric is needed to take into account the placement of the pattern on the blind.
Making a blind in PATTERNED FABRIC with NO JOINED WIDTHS will require the FABRIC CUT DROP plus ONE PATTERN REPEAT to place the pattern on the blind.
EXTRA INSTRUCTIONS
If you are covering a batten in fabric there may be enough excess fabric from offcuts if the blind is narrow. Otherwise you will need 30cm of fabric per width used for each batten.
Note battens for blinds outside the recess are generally covered in fabric (as they can be seen), battens for blinds inside the recess are hidden so are usually covered in lining.
FAQs
There are 2 types of pattern repeat on a patterned fabric, Horizontal and Vertical. We are generally more interested in the vertical pattern repeat when making curtains and blinds and if only one pattern repeat is given by a manufacturer we would expect it to be the vertical one.
VERTICAL PATTERN REPEAT
The distance up or down the fabric, the pattern repeats itself.
HORIZONTAL PATTERN REPEAT
The distance across the fabric, the pattern repeats itself.
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Questions & Comments
Hi, I am also making a wide blind and need to join fabric, would you recommend a normal seam pressed open for the joins or would a French seem better? I’m worried that may be bulky
Hi Pat
Definitely just a standard seam pressed open. When pressing seams open, you can get fabric shrinkage just long the seam unless the entire fabric has been pressed according to fabric content.
On the lining, make sure you tack the seams open with tiny stitches once pressed, otherwise you will have problems sliding the rods through later in the process.
Please send us pics of your completed blinds as we love to see them
Kind regards
Cindy
Hi there. Really loving your instructions and ideas.
I am making a blind 230 x 130 with blackout lining
Unfortunately I have ordered all my fabric already and thought I would get away with railroading the fabric - so I understand I have a number of obstacles ahead of me. I know I will have to attach the blackout lining and lining to the fabric at intervals and wonder what intervals you would suggest.
Many thanks
Joining the fabric, blackout and lining is covered in STEPs 6 and 7. Then Stab stitching the layers together is covered in STEP 9.
Hi,
The measurements for my roman blind (recessed) are 1775mm for the width and the drop is 1158mm. I am therefore wondering how much fabric i would require as the blind is wider than the fabric - this is 137 cm wide with a fabric repeat of 32cm.
Thanks for the fantastic tips, you make it so much clearer than any other videos i have watched.
Many thanks
We haven't written the extra instructions for wide blinds yet. The fabric calculator HERE though does make the calculation for you. As you are using a patterned fabric you will need an adjusted cut drop (calculator will tell you), so you can join the pattern on the fabric panels. We never join the fabric down the middle of the blind, we always have a central width and join equal amounts to each side.