A weight rod is something that is going to have some weight… something heavier than wood dowel preferably. You can go to any hardware store and pick up a fiberglass rod or steel that you can have cut to a little bit less than the finished width of your roman shade. Get it cut to about 1/2 inches less than the width and slide that into your bottom hem.

That’s going to pull everything nice and taught. And also give your shade that horizontal shaping… because without it… when you go to pull up your shade… there’s nothing there to prevent it from pulling inward. There’s nothing to keep it straight width-wise. It’s just going to pull inward and get all messy. So, be sure that you put a weight rod into your bottom hem.

You also need to make sure that you have enough lift cords going across your roman shade. Sometimes, we only put a couple in and expect everything to raise nice and flat and level. But what really is happening, is that you didn’t put enough lift cords in and the fabric in between the lift cords swags.

Another thing to keep in mind…. based on the type of fabric of your roman shade and if you’ve interlined it… it requires some training. Sometimes when you raise your roman shade… even if it didn’t collapse inward… you may get a little frustrated because the folds aren’t perfect. And that is very normal. Many many times, when you first raise your roman shade, the fabric is going to need some fussing… a little bit of clean up… a little bit of training. Once you’ve trained your roman shade it will not require as much fuss. But it is possible that some fabrics will require a little bit more fuss than others. It’s just the way it goes.

So, keep an open mind… it’s not always going to be as perfect as you’d like it be. Follow these tips of making sure you have a weight rod, the right number of lift cords… and a little bit of patience and training… your roman shade will raise up just fine.

Now, I say “about” because you can’t have your lift cords exactly 10″ apart… unless you have a magical even numbered width for your roman shade. So, 10 or 11 inches is ok.

Now, if you’re going to put ribs into your roman shades at every row of rings, you’re going to have a little more stability there and you can get away with less rings… less lift cords… more spacing. So, with that idea, you could have maybe 12 to 14 inches of spacing between rings.

You really need to have your own discretion… because once you get passed 12″ you risk the fabric swagging… even with a casing and a rib at every row of rings. So, if you have a light weight fabric, you may get away with 12 to 14″ of ring spacing. If you have a fabric that has a nice stiff feel.. you may also get away with wider ring spacing.

But if you have silk, something flimsy or something full and heavy, you may need to stay in the 12 inches or less spacing.

There is no magic formula for this… so when in doubt when making your roman shades… do not go over 10 to 12 inches of spacing between lift cords. And this is really easy to figure out. Once you decide that you’re going to space your lift cords about 10 inches apart… you take the width of your roman shade. I’m assuming that you will have your lift cords come in an inch on each side. So, subtract 2 inches from the finished width of your roman shade (1 inch for each side). Divide that by 10.

The number you come up with is the number of spaces between lift cords. Add one to get the number of lift cords you will need.

So, again space your lift cords or shade rings 10 to 12 inches apart and if you have roman shade ribs, space the rings 12 to 14 inches apart.

The fabric you should use for your roman shades is honestly… just about anything you like. Now, that’s probably not the answer you were looking for. Surely, there are fabrics that are better for making roman shades than others.

The best thing I can recommend to you when making roman shades… is that when you are looking at a fabric… and you find the ones you like. Always, first, go straight to the fabric you like… the fabric that you can envision on your windows and as part of your decor. There’s no sense in trying to find just the right type of fabric… and then never find the style you want.

Now, if you’ve chosen silk or something similar… that’s a lovely choice for a roman shade. Don’t shy away from it. But keep in mind that silk fights being pleated. It’s very soft and you won’t have crisp pleats. That’s ok! You just need to know this going into your roman shade project. You’ll ultimately have nice soft folds that lay on top of each other. You may want to consider interlining a silk roman shade to give your shade body.

If you really want those crisp pleats… when you find a fabric that you like, see how well it creases. If it’s a heavy, upholstery type of fabric, then it’s not going to crease well. This type of fabric will fight you when you raise your roman shade… the fabric will require fuss to get the pleats just right. And it will probably never train. So, you may want to avoid heavy upholstery type of fabrics.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying to not ever use these fabrics… I’m just saying that some fabrics are harder to work with and will require more fuss.

Now, if you’ve found a nice cotton or something more of a blend… that when you go to crease it, it’s nice and stiff and holds the crease almost instantly. That’s the perfect type of fabric for a roman shade. It will give you that typical crisp pleat as you fold it up.

So, again, don’t hold yourself back from a fabric that you love. Just keep in mind that your roman shade may not turn out exactly as you envisioned it because every fabric folds differently.