Help, my shade is pulling in.

Visitor · Superwoman 4 Joined: 23 Feb 2006 Posts: 675

Debbie.
I've read about putting a weighted rod at the bottome of the shade to keep it from pulling in. However, I wanted my relaxed roman shade to have a slight swag at the bottom (it's 35" inside mount); if I put a straight rod in the bottom won't I lose the swag? (Is there something I can use that's slightly flexible)

Thanks,
B

Debby Bowman · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 11:15 am Post subject:

Hi B,

Adding a weight rod to the bottom will certainly help keep it from pulling in. My experience has been that even if you use a straight rod, the fabric will still have a slight swag as you raise the shade. If you want the swag even if the shade is closed, you would need to make the shade a bit longer than the window and tie up the bottom couple of rings on each side.

On a separate note, I don't know if you have made your shade panel the exact size of your inside measurement, but I have also found that by adding a bit to the width and either shirring across the top of the shade or making a pleat, the added fabric will help prevent the pulling in.

Think of it this way. If you took a piece of string and measured out 6 inches and then took that same piece of string and made a curve (like a smile) with it, when you then measured tip to tip (with the curve), it wouldn't be 6 inches across any more. The same thing happens to fabric when you want a swag at the bottom but didn't add any additional fabric to the width. Smile

Make sense?
_________________
Thanks,

Debby Bowman
Owner
Shadescapes LLC
800-939-2843
www.make-roman-shades.com

Visitor · Superwoman 4 Joined: 23 Feb 2006 Posts: 675

Hi Debbie,

You suggest adding a little bit of extra width for this type of shade - how much do extra width would you recommend adding for these? And do you add that amount to the width for the whole lenght of the shade?
\
Thanks so much,
Rebecca in Atlanta

Debby Bowman · Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2009 7:53 am Post subject:

Rebecca,

I would add an additional 20% to your total width and yes, it would be added the entire length of the shade. For example, if your completed shade was to be 40 inches wide, I would add another 8 inches to the width of your fabric. Smile

_________________
Thanks,

Debby Bowman
Owner
Shadescapes LLC
800-939-2843
www.make-roman-shades.com