https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/skylight-blind • Posted by
I made this blind for our bathroom skylight. To buy a proper fitting blind for one of these windows costs from about £70 upwards! I made this one for less than £5! I would highly recommend using new pillow cases for this. There are plenty of linen shops and supermarkets that do packs of 1 or 2 for a few pounds. I used pillow cases because they matched the width of the window already. I also used bamboo canes to support either end as had some in the garden already (aka. They were free), and just scrubbed them clean and cut to length. You could use dowel instead. There are 2 ways of doing this: The easy way - Use 1 pillowcase and sew dowel into either end then attach ties to hold on to the window. Or The slightly trickier way (shown here)
I made this blind for our bathroom skylight. To buy a proper fitting blind for one of these windows costs from about £70 upwards! I made this one for less than £5! I would highly recommend using new pillow cases for this. There are plenty of linen shops and supermarkets that do packs of 1 or 2 for a few pounds. I used pillow cases because they matched the width of the window already. I also used bamboo canes to support either end as had some in the garden already (aka. They were free), and just scrubbed them clean and cut to length. You could use dowel instead. There are 2 ways of doing this: The easy way - Use 1 pillowcase and sew dowel into either end then attach ties to hold on to the window. Or The slightly trickier way (shown here)
Iron the pillow cases, and unpick the side seems. You should have 4 pieces of fabric. Set one aside for the backing of your blind
I used 2 contrasting colours to make mine (one green and the other white). Take one piece of each colour and cut into irregular strips
Sew the strips together until they are about the length of the window and allow a bit extra for seams and mistakes! To make this look a bit smarter and a bit stronger, I ironed down the seams and sewed over them again
Now make the ties. I used some left over material from the pillow cases. But you could easily use some fabric tape or ribbon. Take a long, narrow strip of material and fold it in half length ways. Then sew the top and down one side (leaving one end open). Then turn this inside out. I used 6 of these
Sew the top of your now stripy material to the backing piece set aside earlier. Ensure the ties are between the 2 pieces of material at positions you want to tie it to the window.
Then sew a line parallel to this top seam about 2cm down from the top (or whatever thickness required to push the canes/dowel though)
Repeat step 6 for the bottom of the blind
Sew down the sides of the blind, and Iron all seams again
Insert dowel/canes and tie to window :)