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Tutorial for window blinds


Anya

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I was having trouble posting this in the blog section so I hope it is ok to post this on here. I have been making blinds for my dollshouse and thought I would share how I made them incase anyone wants to have a try.

Sorry about some of the quality of the photos. I seemed to have misplaced some of the the originals so I have had to copy and paste some of them into paint shop from microsoft word.

1:12 scale working blind

These blinds are relatively easy (especially if you are not good at sewing), quick and inexpensive to make, and with the variety of ribbons that are available on the market you can make some very attractive designs to compliment your doll house rooms.

Curtains or drapes can be hung at either side of the blinds if you prefer, or they can be just left as they are.

1 Meter of wire edged ribbon can make about 6 blinds for A Beacon Hill.

You can use any kind of 2 ½ " width ribbon as long as it has wire edging, as the wire is very flexible and allows the curtain to be folded up to give the appearance of an open blind.

NOTE - These blinds are made to fit the Beacon Hill dolls house (excluding the bay windows) so if you have a different dolls house you may want to measure the windows before you make your blinds.

You will need

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Wire edged ribbon 6.5 cm in width (approx 2 ½ inches) x 14.5cm in length

1 bead

A paper punch (preferably suitable for 1/12 scale miniatures)

Fancy card (I have chosen glittery gold card)

Tacky glue

A tooth pick or wooden skewer for applying glue

A ruler

Trim for the edge of your blind (approx 10cm)

Sharp scissors

Sewing needle

Fancy thread (I have chosen a purple iridescent type)

1 – Take your wire edged ribbon which has already been cut to size and fold both ends by 1cm overlap. Glue the fold at the top of your blind by putting a thin bead of glue along the edge of the ribbon only. This is so once the glue dries there will be a loop in case you wish to hang your blind by a rail. Do not glue the other edge of the ribbon at this point.

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2 - Now take your trim cut it to the same width as the ribbon and glue it to one of the other edges of the blind making sure that the glue is not visible. Cut off any excess at the sides.

If you are using a patterned ribbon you might want to check that the pattern is not upside down before gluing the trim.

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Once you have done steps 1 and 2 take about 30cm of thread to make sure you have plenty incase you need it (like me) and make a few double knots in it to make sure it doesn't slip through the ribbon and thread the needle through the centre of the fold that you made earlier ( the fold behind the trim), See photo 3 below. Once you have done this glue the fold in place and trim the thread.

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3 - Now take your paper punch and punch out two shapes. For A symmetrical designs you should turn the card you are using on its other side and punch the second shape out that way so the shapes are a mirror image of each other when you glue them together.

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4 – Put one shape from the paper punch nice side face down and put a small amount of glue on the back of it. Get the loose thread that is hanging from the blind and run it across the shape (fig 2). Make sure the thread is taught across the shape. Now take the other shape and sandwich the thread between the bottom and top shape (fig 3). Adjust shapes to fit perfectly on top of each other if necessary.

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5 - Take a small amount of glue and put it onto the thread (about 1cm below the shape) and thread the bead until it is threaded onto the glue.

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Now the blind is finished and ready to hang. All you have to do now is decide whether you want to glue your blind into place, use a rail or tacky wax to hold it into place.

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Blinds with ribbon curtains.

©2008 W A Stone

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Anya, that looks so cool!

Thanks for sharing, I'm going to try this.

Thanks it's really easy too. I have got some really nice ribbons now. Ha I will be swamped with the things.

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Anya, love these!!! As fo my Mz Chantilly I might add, will see when she will get those, there are still "some" work left prior to that part though :crazyeyes: >she says as a mild understatement< LOL

Thank you for sharing!

Hugs

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