How to Make a Pleated Balloon Shade

For J's bathroom I picked up this adorable fabric at Ocho (my new favorite fabric store)

in Covington, GA.  I know I've told you about it before but it really is great.  Selections are a bit out dated but in the back you can get some really great remnants for 3.99 a yard.

SOLD.  FAST.

This is the fabric I chose.

now, I was limited to say the least.  Her house was built oh I'm guessing in the 60's or 70's and they had used this...ya know, I don't even know how to describe the color of tile.  It's kind of an aqua green and white.  Not quite aqua maybe more teal.  So, I thought this beige and white would carry that bathroom over until they decide to change it.  Remember, we painted it a creamy cream.

So, here's what cha do.  Now, my remnant was 2 7/8 yds. Plenty for a 36" wide window.  Problem was?

When I laid the fabric out there was a BIG pink stain on the side.  So I had to cut the width of the fabric down to 50".  I'll get to that in a sec.

So, first lay your fabric out and cut to the desired length.  The longer the shade the more fullness you will have, um, you probably figured that out huh?

Next cut your lining exactly the same length but cut the width 1" more narrow on both sides.

Sew down both sides with right sides together.

Turn and press and it should look like this:

Can you figure that out cause it looks weird to me.  That is me flipping the lining over to show you the way it should look on the inside.   Okee dokeyyyyy.

Now figure out your width.

I had 50" to work with.  I was using a 3 1/2" wide board to hang the shade on so I had to subtract 7".

That is because the shade was going to be curved around the side.

The size of the board was 36" long.  So that only left me 7" for pleats.  Dang that big spot.

That meant each pleat was only going to be about 1 3/4".   I'll show you that in a sec.

there's the pin that I used to show me where it is going to wrap around the piece of wood.

Am I totally confusing you yet???

Now, for the bottom, turn under 1/4" and press, then turn under 2" and sew.  This will be your hem.

Then for mine I measured 12" and that is where I will place my rings.  12" from each sides

I use a quilting guide which works perfect because it is 6" wide and I place my rings 6" apart.  I marked to 16" from the top every 6".

These are the rings you need

using a zigzag stitch with your stitch length on 0, zigzag a ring on every one of your marks

Like this!

keep zigzagging away until you've stitched all of your rings on

Now, take your fabric and fold it exactly where the rings are like this

Run a basting stitch.  My basting stitch was 3 1/2" 

now you are going to press that stitch flat

take your board and cover it with lining

lay the board at the top and bring the top of the fabric over it

turn the fabric under and staple.  Make this neat y'all!

The sides can be a bit tricky but I do it sort of like wrapping a present

this is what it should look like now

Now screw in eye hooks into the board on the opposite side.  Line the eye screws up with the line of rings

take some lightweight roping and tie a sturdy knot at the bottom of the shade

then run that roping through all of the rings.  I wanted the pull to end up on the right side so I ran the left side through both eye screws.

take the basting stitch out of pleats and it should resemble this

this is what the top of the shade should look like

and this is what it looks like before hanging

J just sent me the pic of it hanging!  Not sure what's goin on with that right side but I'll look at it when I get over there next.

Any questions?

Ask away!!!

Have a great night y'all!

kb