The blog in which I make Roman Shades, with only magnets and fabric.

I finally did it!   I am not even kidding.  I have been working on this, in my head of course, for weeks!  I originally planned it out as the "no-sew" Roman Shades with mini blinds, but I didn't have those in that size already, and thought it was getting costly to try to buy extra parts.  I had already purchased the expandable, magnetic, curtain rods ($8 at Walmart, per rod), and had the Thermaback curtains that we used to have in the living room from before the remodel.  (Once the windows were framed, the curtains covered the framing, so we have decided to not hang those again.)  Thermaback curtains are energy efficient and light blocking.  I have them in every bedroom.  If you are not familiar with Thermaback, you will love them!  I have purchased some at Target and some at Walmart.

So, I worked on a magnet system, and got it all together after altering the curtains I already had.  So, I had to sew a little, but, as you can see from the pictures, it will be super self explanatory.  (Should "Roman" and "French" be capitalized?  Are they really proper nouns?  Is the sky really blue?  Are zebras black with white stripes or white with black stripes?)  Enjoy the "pictorial!"

This is how it comes, at Walmart.  There were 3 large squares, and each square was scored giving us 4 smaller squares.  I used one package.

The back has an adhesive on it.  I have only had them attached one day, but if they begin to fall off, I have fancy-dancy craft glue that will work on these two surfaces.  

Notice the line of holes with a little light showing through?  That is where I took my seam ripper and added a few extra inches to the length of the curtain and now it completely covers the window.  I also had to measure and sew a new side on each one since they were WAY too wide.  (I took a little more than 1/4 the width off.)  Each one was too wide and short.  I TOTALLY RELATE.

Looks all messy, but they will only be down at night time.   It will serve to block the cold air in the colder months.

I just started adding these magnets on, and once I got them  to work properly, I eyeballed attaching them to the second window.

Here's the fun part.  Basically, I slid the curtain up, under itself.  Then, repeat.  

That was that repeat motion.  I thought four folds looked nice, so, I will skip the middle picture. 

Drum roll.........

Two magnetic curtain rods, Walmart, $8 per rod

One package of magnets, Walmart, under $2

fabric- free- curtains I already had that were sitting in storage

Roman Shades for French doors total= $18!

Essentially, these can be "no-sew" shades if you want to purchase fabric and use fabric glue to close the edges.