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How to Make Balloon Shade Tutorial

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How To Make Balloon Shade Tutorial – Balloon Shade DIY.

How To Make Balloon Shade Tutorial

Soooooooooooooooooo ……
 
 
Do I really need to address the elephant in the room? Or can we just move on. Move forward.
 
 
Because, honestly, I blame it on the so. Well, more accurately, the sew.
 
 
As in sewing.
 
 
Because sewing tutorials are the worst.
 
 
They are complicated. On so (and sew) many levels 😉 …
 
 
Starting with large swaths of fabric that are nearly impossible to photograph in a single frame without moving every piece of furniture out of the room.
 
 
And as a reminder, my house is already space-challenged.

Gray White Gingham Fabric Balloon Curtain

Then there’s the whole sewing terminology barrier. I’m not a professional seamstress. I’m an amateur.
 
 
Okay, maybe there was that one class I took way back in junior high school. But that was loooooong ago and these days I’m mostly winging it.
 
 
I mean, have you tried reading a sewing pattern lately? It makes toilet paper math looks like kid’s play.
 
 
In trying to write up a sewing tutorial, I realize I don’t know the correct terms. Or stitches. I don’t even own a serger … or is it a serging machine? …. I don’t even know what it is. Or what it looks like. Or even when I would need to serge something.
 

Gray White Buffalo Check Fabric Curtain

And with all that said, I’ve been making balloon shade curtains for 25 years. My sister taught me as we made four giant balloon shade curtains for my first apartment. And when I moved into this home, I was a balloon-shade-making maniac. And then when I was pregnant the nursery got it’s own balloon shade. And then when I redecorated the nursery for my daughter (child #2), I made yet another balloon shade curtain …
 
 
With this gray and white buffalo check balloon valance, it took me close to two months to make — and share — this balloon shade curtain tutorial. A curtain I could whip out in a day.
 
 
 Sigh.
 
 
Two weeks spent procrastinating because of the dreaded sewing tutorial.
 
 
Another week spent flip flopping and agonizing over scrapping the tutorial and just making the curtain.
 
 
And all the while the bare window looked so bare. And sad.
 

  
And then I gave in. And spent 3 days making this balloon shade (2 days longer than necessary) while documenting the process. As best I can.
 
 
And then another four weeks was spent in procrastination mode. And avoidance mode. Because I was procrastinating and avoiding writing up this post.
 

 Sigh.
 
 
Because, as I said before, sewing tutorials are the worst.

How To Make Balloon Shade Tutorial

Materials*

Fabric (I found this gray & white gingham at this Etsy seller) – I used 1 3/4″ yards of 60″ width fabric 

Thread

1/2″ Plastic Rings

Cording (I used about 20 yards)

5 Metal Eye Hooks

Wide Pocket Curtain Rod (2 1/2″)

*Includes some affiliate links.

Balloon Shade Curtain DIY Tutorial

Start by measuring your window area. As you can see, I chose to hang my curtain much higher than the top of the window. The ceilings are tall in this room and the window is short. I wanted to make the window look taller.

And here’s how I set up the hardware. I put the curtain rod hardware slightly outside the width of the window measurement by about 1 inch. You also need to install 5 eye hooks where the strings you’ll thread through the back of the curtain and then through the eye hooks to make the balloon curtain balloon.

Balloon Shade Curtain Tutorial - Gray and White Gingham Fabric Curtain

For the fabric, I cut three panels 19″ wide and 74″ length (the finished width will be just about double the width of the window and about double the length. This extra width & length fabric will help give the “balloon-ing” when the curtain is pulled up.

Pin the three panels together, right sides together. Sew along 1/2″ seam allowance.

Press open the seams.

Hem the bottom. Cut off excess fabric.

Create a top hem and a pocket for the hardware. Fold down the top fabric 10 inches.  At the 4″ down from the top fold, create a sew line. 

Make a the pocket 3″ to accommodate the 2 1/2″ hardware.

Sew along the lines to make the pocket.

Sew rings along the panel seams (and on outside seams). Space 6″ apart.

 

Thread your cording through the rings, starting at the bottom (where you’ll tie a knot. Thread up and over like so …

Insert the hardware through the pocket. Now you’re ready to hang.

Thread the cording through the eye hooks. Starting from the outer edge. The first cord will go through all four eye hooks.

The next goes through three eye hooks.

And next through two eye hooks.

The last through the last eye hook.

Pull on the cords until you like how the balloon shade balloons. Then braid them together and fit onto the 5th eye hook on the side of the window.

And we’re done. A full two months later …

 

sigh. 🙂

Pin It!

 

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Comments

  1. Wow for someone that claims you are an amateur sewer you did a beautiful job on this balloon shade.
    I have that same material in my drapes and love the soft gray and white buffalo check. It is beautiful great job.
    xoxo
    Kris

    Reply

  4. So glad you explained how to thread the loops along the top. I made silk Roman shades, and did not know how to thread, they hung for 10 years!
    Thanks so much! Others will know what to do!

    Reply

  5. Good tutorial but for a really amateur person, it would have helped tremendously if you mentioned the type of fabrics that should be used to make the valance.

    Reply

  6. Hi Linda,
    I just found your post as I was looking for a balloon curtain tutorial. It has been some 30+ years since I made balloon curtains and I’ve totally forgotten how to do it. I did own some from Mervyn’s (remember that department store??) which used only the round rings and a larger slotted ring to gather them all up. WAY easier than pulling cords!

    So, I’ll use your post as a guide and see if I can drum up some of those slotted rings for mine. I’ll try this first one for the one kitchen window we have, then see about making a second one for the dining room area.

    Thanks for making your tutorial and yes, it is a pain to photograph and edit and sew all at the same time, lol!

    Spring hugs,
    Barb 🙂
    http://www.frenchethereal.net

    Reply

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