I decided to make a little change in the kitchen. I’ve been craving pattern in this space for a while now. I finally found a fabric that I love at a great price and decided to make some new window treatments. The fact that I don’t own a sewing machine or even know how to sew never stops me, and in this case, I didn’t even bother with no-sew hemming tape. Nope, I just busted out my trusty hot glue gun and whipped this faux roman shade up in about 20 minutes!
If you’ve never used a glue gun to “sew” before………it’s ridiculously easy! All I did was measure my window to figure out how long and wide I needed my shade to be and then I added a couple inches to both the width and length to make room for hemming.
Then I used my iron to make easy to follow hem lines. I made a larger hem at the top where I would be inserting the rod to hang the shade.
Once the seams are ironed it’s really easy to use a hot glue gun to “sew” them closed. You want to use a high temperature glue gun so that the glue doesn’t bead up and harden too quickly. Working in small sections also helps to make sure the glue doesn’t dry before the fabric is fused together. Once all sides are hot glued, you’re ready to hang your shade. I like to gather the sides with my hot glue gun after it’s hung on the window.
I just fold the fabric up and then put a small bead of hot glue to hold it in place.
(*Technically a roman shade should be folded the opposite direction, but I found that the fabric didn’t lay right when I pinned it in place that way. So I opted to fold up the way I show in the picture above. You’ll have to play around with the sides of your shade to figure out what looks best for you, using pins to hold the fabric in place until you’re ready to hot glue. )
Then stand back and say…………..”Who needs a sewing machine?!” 😉
In all seriousness, I do plan to actually learn how to sew someday, but for now my hot glue gun gets the job done pretty nicely. Now I have 6 panels to hot glue for the breakfast nook! Hoping to finish that up soon. I’m loving the fresh new look this fabric gave the the kitchen. It compliments the wall color as well as the backsplash tile and it was just the little change I was craving.
Do you ever “sew” with your hot glue gun?
* Find out how I distressed the kitchen cabinets here. And check out how I used my hot glue gun to customize the curtain panels in the breakfast room here.
Plus check out the no sew curtain panels I added to the living room in our new house!
Cute shade Carmel! I love the light fixture over your sink – where did you get it??