Seeing Shades of Preppy Green & White

Well I’m finally back after a much needed break. Thanks for your patience as I really needed to take some time to take care of some important things going on around the Monogram household. So let’s get back to the projects and preppy finds and other fun stuff, shall we?

If you’ll remember, I’ve still been feverishly working on completing mini monogram #2’s big boy room. All that’s left is to take the artwork I purchased to be professionally framed, and I’m having a devil of a time finding a large round mirror w/ either a black or silver frame. But in the meantime, I did complete his window treatment that turned out so cute, and perfectly matches the bed skirt and I know this is a project that will interest one or 2 of you. I used the same fresh white with Kelly green grosgrain ribbon trim that I used on the bed skirt, added a monogram, and the end result is exactly what I was looking for. Look, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that it’s one thing to add some grosgrain ribbon to a store-bought bed skirt, but a window treatment? Yes, my friends, it’s entirely possible! So here’s another semi-homemade project for sewers and no-sewers alike.

You Will Need
-1 store-bought roman shade to fit your window
-grosgrain ribbon of your choice (enough to cover the entire length of the shade times two)
-clear thread for your machine (if you’re sewing) or a heavy duty flexible fabric glue
-black-out fabric if you opt to use it on the back of the shade to make the room darker
-straight pins

Instructions
1) You first need to decide where you want your grosgrain ribbon. I wanted mine the same distance inside on each side, centered over the “tape” and string on the backside.


2) Using your ironing board lay your roman shade on it, face up. Starting at the very top, pin your grosgrain ribbon all the way down to the base of the shade. NOTE: Remember that a roman shade has 2 important things that you need to keep in mind when pinning. 1) The wooden dowels that are horizontally sewn inside and 2) the “tape” on the back of the shade that the string goes through which enables the shade to be lifted and lowered. So make sure you don’t pin the tape on the backside.

3) One of the tricky parts of pinning the ribbon to the shade is making sure that you adjust the shade and different sections of it to make sure the ribbon won’t buckle when you sew it.


4) Once you’ve pinned the ribbon on both the left and right side, you have two options. For non-sewers, grab that fabric glue and start gluing it small sections at a time to prevent slippage. For sewers, bring your shade to the sewing machine, and remember you will need a large work surface.

5) Sewers: I use the clear thread so it doesn’t show on either side of my shade or ribbon. You also need to note that due to the dowels in the shade, you will have to sew a little, and then knot your thread when you get to a dowel. Then pull the shade away from the machine, and position it to the other side of the dowel so you can start again. Truthfully, it’s a little annoying to have to do this, but you’ll find that once you get into a grove, it isn’t really that bad. NOTE: This is of utter importance! When sewing on the ribbon, make sure you do NOT sew it to the “tape” and string on the back of the shade otherwise the shade won’t work properly!


6) Once you’ve got your ribbon sewn on each side of the shade, tuck the ends underneath and secure with the fabric glue. Don’t worry; they’ll be hidden so no one will see them!

7) If you don’t need your room to be super dark, then consider your project complete (aside from taking it to your local monogrammer if you so desire as I have did). However, if you need it dark, then you can very easily sew or fabric glue your black-out fabric to the back of your shade. I sewed mine, and I’ll admit that takes quite a lot of patience to pin and sew it on perfectly.

So here is my finished product in mini #2’s bedroom. I’m so pleased with the end result, and it compliments his room just perfectly. Now, I only used one color ribbon but you could easily do this with multiple color grosgrain ribbons, or leave off the monogram all-together as well. You can even purchase your shade with a light blocker already attached and in that case, you are one step ahead of the game. But speaking of the shade, I’m sure you’re wondering why on earth I didn’t make my own Roman shade from scratch. And the reason for this is because I’ve made romans before so I know it is much more worth my time and money in this case to just buy a pre-made shade and enhance it as I so desired.

Where to buy the shade, you ask? I picked mine up at Linens ‘N Things, but you can check Bed, Bath, & Beyond, JC Penney, or Smith & Noble (just to name a few off the top of my head). Feel free to start from scratch, but in my opinion since I just needed a basic white roman shade for this project, it was much more efficient for me to purchase a pre-made shade.


Good luck!