Roman blinds are a beautiful way to add soft furnishings to any room. They’re a lot easier to make than you might think and require just a little patience.

First, you need to decide whether your blind is going to sit on the inside or outside of the window recess. This will influence the amount of fabric and interlining you need. Once you’ve decided, lay out your fabric and lining on a flat surface and pin all round. Keeping the pins close to the edge of the fabric and lining will help you form a neat fold when sewing the sides together.

Next, mark the width of the blind along both side edges with a pencil. Use this to work out how much fabric you’ll need for the top and bottom hems. Repeat for the remaining length of the blind.

Now, fold over the bottom hem to form a neat edge. With the hem folded over to the inside of the blind, stitch it down using a 2.5cm seam. To create a dowel pocket along the bottom edge, stitch a second line of stitching 6mm from the raw edge and insert a dowel into this pocket.

If you’re making a DIY blind, you can skip the dowels altogether and opt for a non-mechanical solution. This is great for when you have a window that doesn’t have a standard frame.

For a non-mechanical approach, you’ll need a 2×2 piece of wood and a few screws to mount it to the interior of the window frame. You’ll also need a few plastic rings to guide the curtain cord through.

Once you’ve finished all of your dowel pockets, sew the pockets to the individual dowel sections that you marked out earlier in step four. Once the dowel pockets are attached to the dowel sections, you’ll need to sew down each of the folded edges to securely attach them.

Take your time and check the measurements that you have made throughout the whole process so that they are perfect. You might have to make adjustments as you go, and it’s always a good idea to press everything before sewing in order to ensure that it’s all nice and smooth.

This will also help to ensure that your blind is straight and square. Once you’re happy with the finished product, it’s time to start adding the pieces of Roman blind tape.

Measure the length of the blind from the top of the’reveal’ to the sill, in several places. The length of the blind you’re making should be between 20cm and 30cm wide, but it’s a good idea to allow for a 5mm gap around the top to prevent the top from being pulled away from the window.

Depending on the width of your window, the fabric you choose should be 3 inches wider than this. It’s a good idea to use a thicker home decor fabric, which will give you more structure and support in the pleats of the blind.