Fabric tips for Roman Blinds

Roman blinds are enormously popular. They look smart, do not use a lot of fabric (and are therefore cheaper to make compared to curtains), can be made in ‘standard’, ‘waterfall’ – sometimes called ‘cascade’ or with a border or other embellishments. Depending on your window furniture they can be hung inside or outside the recess. It’s possible to line and interline them, protecting you against the cold. Caution, though: the effect depends on the fabrics used. If the face fabric has a tight weave and is interlined with a special product, you will have crisp pleats. A loose weave such as linen or a linen imitation will show relaxed folds. I do not recommend blackout lining for Roman blinds. This is because it needs to be ‘stab-stitched’ (tiny little stitches that connect the lining to the main fabric) and this will make a visible hole in the otherwise lightproof lining. Those tiny holes cannot be avoided but don’t show up anywhere near as noticeably if using a cotton lining. If you interline (put an insulating layer between the main fabric and the lining) most light will be blocked, but there will be extra bulk when the blind is drawn up: is there enough space in the window recess? If the blind is outside the recess and is quite long, the mechanism might have to move forward to accommodate the bulk of the folds. I’m happy to advise.