Recovering your Older Roll up Blinds

Remaking blinds which have lost their luster is an inexpensive way in which to retain them for a bit longer.

It’s also a remarkably easy method to get a custom look and feel, when you make them to coordinate or match your existing décor.

A perfect means to recover a blind is to use an older vinyl roll up blind, such as the white ones that are traditionally used on porches and verandas.

There are just a few steps that will be required to recover your blinds and make them as good as, if not better than new.

Take the blind down from its moorings and lay it all the way out, using a bathtub or your back yard or garden. Something that will take being hosed down while you wash it.

All blinds catch the dust and oils from day to day living.

Attempting to add the fabric or cover to them using glue will be unsuccessful if you haven’t cleared away the oils that coat them because the glue will simply adhere to the oil and pull loose in a day or so, leaving you with a lot of wasted time and energy.

Once the blinds are cleaned, choose a fabric that matches or coordinates with your room and lay it out to see if the width will be enough to cover the blind that you want to redo.

If so perfect and nothing more is in order. If not, then we need to make it wide enough to cover.

The best way to do that is using fusible webbing such as that which is used to hem clothing.

Rather than to use it overlapping, so that the seam shows, you will want to lay the two right sides of the fabric together and fuse the seam much as you would if you were sewing it, about a half inch wide strip of fusible webbing will do the trick.

Fuse them using the manufacturer’s directions and then lay your fabric over the blind.

You will need about a half inch extra on either side which you will tuck under to make the raw edge of the fabric disappear.

Starting at the sides, iron a half inch under on each side.

Using a hot glue gun or a thicker tacky glue run a thin bead of it down the side which you will press the fabric to all along the edge.

Move in about four inches and run another bead of glue from top to bottom of the blind.

It isn’t necessary to glue the entire fabric bottom to the whole face of the blind but you will need a bead about every four inches to make sure it’s secured on the blind face and won’t pull loose as it is rolled up and down.

When you reach the other side of the blind, turn the end under and glue from top to bottom.

At the bottom, add a decorator touch by running a bead of glue across it and adding as decorator border, such as a beaded edging or lace trim that appeals to you and fits the room décor.