How to Make a Laminated Shade

Laminated Shades offer a simple, clean and cordless solution for your windows.  Begin with a stable face fabric, cotton, cotton blends and linen blends work best.  Fabric shown is from Greenhouse Fabrics, 10807 Heather, 55% Linen/45% Rayon.  Test fabrics with the laminated adhesive before starting your project.  Laminated Shades can be operated by a spring or clutch roller.

Supplies:

Laminating Adhesive

Two, low-nap paint rollers

Room Darkening Window Shade Cloth

Masking Tape

Aluminum Roller Tube

Wood Slat or Weight Bar

Fringe Adhesive

Spring & End Plug or Clutch & End Plug

End Brackets

(Bead Chain Loop if using Clutch)

Scissors or Rotary Cutter and Mat
www.RowleyCompany.com

To begin tape the shade cloth to a smooth, rigid work surface.  Allow extra for width and length.  Draw square, accurate reference lines on the shade cloth to help align the fabric.  Pour out a small amount of laminating adhesive onto the shade cloth and spread it evenly with a paint roller.  Keep adding adhesive as needed to get a good, even coverage.  Continue to roll over the surface until you feel a slight resistance and the adhesive is evenly applied.

Prepare the fabric by cutting square and ironing to remove wrinkles and rolling onto a cardboard tube with wrong side out.  Unroll the fabric starting along one side or end (depending on how it is rolled on the tube) and squaring up with reference lines drawn on the shade cloth.  Inspect carefully and remove any lint or strings from the material.

With the clean roller, roll over fabric evenly in all directions to adhere the fabric to the shade cloth.  Be careful not to push too hard, causing the fabric to become out of square.  Allow the laminated fabric to dry overnight.

Remove shade from the worktable and trim evenly to the size needed.  Allow extra fabric to roll over the tube, this is especially important with spring roller shades.  Seal the cut edges by dabbing or painting on small amounts of Fringe Adhesive.  The Fringe Adhesive will dry clear.  Do not roll up the shade until the Fringe Adhesive is completely dry.  Sew in a pocket at the bottom for the wood shade slat or weight bar.

Peel away the plastic coating to expose the tape on the roller and attach the shade.  Add extra masking tape along the top of the shade securing it to the roller.  Roll up the shade on the roller.  Attach brackets to the window trim or to a mount board following the instructions included for the type of roller you are using.

Spring Roller Brackets

Place the shade in the brackets and adjust the tension if using a Spring Roller or retain the bead chain loop if using a Clutch Roller.  To learn in more detail about making Laminated Shades Rowley Company offers two instructional videos; Part 1: How To Make a Laminated Shade and Part 2: Laminated Shade Finishing Touches  There is also a Laminated Shade Starter Kit which includes everything you will need to create one laminated shade.

London Shade

This is the London Shade created for the International Window Coverings Expo in Atlanta. Contrasting pleats are highlighted with micro welt cord.  The shade was stapled to a board and the EZ-Rig Shade system was mounted under the board for easy operation.

Flower Medallion buttons from Finestra Decorative Hardware add a one-of-a-kind, custom touch.  These beautiful buttons are available from Rowley Company as a stock item in 4 designs and three colorways.

Fabrics shown are all from Greenhouse Fabrics, black floral (99045 Black Swan), solid yellow (99268 Toffee) and woven geometric (98992 Sunrise).

Rowley Company Exhibits at the International Window Coverings Expo

Rowley Company exhibited at the International Window Coverings Expo May 13-15, 2010 in Atlanta, GA. Thank you to everyone that stopped by the booth to see our products, ask questions, place orders and to meet the Rowley Company team. 

A view of from the front.

Scott Rowley and Kris Porter demonstrating how to assemble r-Equal Hardware

John Rowley demonstrating the Rowley Company Grommet/Button Press

Laurie Medford demonstrating how to create an Upholstered Memory Board in the Construction Zone.

Amy Johnson presenting a seminar to attendees in the Construction Zone.

Bedding display with pillows, duvet and an upholstered headboard featuring Finestra Decorative Hardware

Another view of the booth display.

Workroom supplies and new products on display.

Installation and Upholstery Supplies on display.

Susan Schurz demonstrating how to make a cordless roman shade in the Construction Zone.

Some of the pretty samples including a roman shade with grommets, laminated shade and silk panel with Italian Stringing.

Shades of every kind including a reverse mounted, roller lift, decorative heading with upholstery nails, top-down-bottom-up and London shade with micro cord.  Beautiful coordinating fabrics from Greenhouse Fabrics.   A hardware display is featured from Finestra Decorative Hardware

A view from the Constuction Zone

How-To: Inset Banding with a Mitered Corner

1. Cut fabric pieces finished banding size x 2.  Press raw edges together on the reverse side.

2. Line up bands square on the worktable, stabbing pins along the banding to hold it in place.  Allow ends to overlap at least 1/2".

3. Turn under edge of the top banding piece forming a mitered corner that is square and true.  

4. Press in a crease at the mitered corner with an iron.

5. Lift up the creased edge and apply a small amount of Rowley Fringe Adhesive or Iron-On Bonding Tape, apply to bottom banding and set adhesive using a hot iron.

6. After adhesive is set unfold banding.

7.  Gently unfold banding so that the right sides of each banding piece are face-to-face.  After banding is unfolded there will be a crease line, this is the stitch line.  It is marked in the photo below.  Sew on this line using a small stitch.

8. After sewing trim away excess fabric leaving a small seam allowance.

9. Turn banding right sides out and press with an iron.

10. Apply the banding to the project by hand sewing, machine sewing or by using Fringe Adhesive or the Iron-On Bonding Tape.

Creating a "Target" or "Bulls Eye" Pillow Front.

Stripes can be used in creative ways for your pillow designs.  Try using horizontal and vertical blocks of stripes or cutting so that the stripes form a cross or target design as shown here.  

Begin with a pattern cut the size of your finished pillow front.  Cut it into 4 equal triangles and mark the direction of the stripe.  Use these pieces as patterns, adding seam allowances to all sides.

To join the cut iron in the seam allowance and then pin together to match, stabbing into the work table (if  the table has an underlayment).  Carefully remove the pieces and rock the pins to catch the pressed seam pinning the two pieces together.  Sew together slowly, following along the crease and removing pins as you go.  (Often when matching seams, especially along a bias edge using an iron-on adhesive tape makes the job much easier but for this pillow the seams will be pressed open, using a fusible tape would only allow for the seams to be pressed to one side).
 

Sew together two triangles for each half of the pillow and then sew together, matching the stripes.  Press seams open.  After it is sewn apply to a piece of Fusible Stabilizer or Lining cut to the correct size.  This will prevent the bias cuts from stretching.  The pillow front is now ready for a knife edge or boxed style. 

Grommets as Decoration

Here is a clever pillow idea, use grommets to create a modern embellishment.  For this pillow a front center panel was added using micro welt cord as a detail on each side.



The plastic, snap together grommets were added to the center panel.  This style of grommet is sleek,  smooth and easy to use.  They have a 2 1/8" outside diameter and a 1 3/8" inside diameter and are available in eight colors; Antique Brass was used for this pillow.

Iron-on polyester batting was added to the center panel to provide a little more thickness for the grommets without making the fabric look stiff or bulky.

After the grommets were added a separate lining was cut with a center strip of contrasting fabric which shows from behind the grommet.  Welt cord was added around the edges and the back piece applied for the finished pillow.

Other creative ideas include creating an entire pillow front with grommets spaced in vertical or horizontal patterns and adding a fun print, metallic or even fur behind the grommets for an added surprise!

Products Used:  

Micro Welt Cord #WC84

Polyester Iron-On Batting #PA20

1 3/8" ID Plastic Grommets #GP10/R

1/4" #2 Polyester Welt Cord #WCP2

18" Polyester Cluster Pillow Insert #PJ18

Customer Creations:

The following knife edge and boxed Grommet Embellished Pillow designs were created by Beginning to End Interiors, Sarasota, FLA