Roman Shade Patterns
Flat Lined Roman Shade
A flat roman shade is a roman shade that has no swagging. It hangs straight on your window and the pleats fold straight across when pleated.
Learn how to make a flat roman shade that is lined, unlined or interlined.
Hobbled Roman Shades
A hobbled roman shade is also known as a soft fold roman shade. When lowered, it has soft permanent folds that cascade down the shade.
The hobbled roman shade requires more fabric, but is just as easy to make as a flat roman shade.
Slatted Roman Shades
A slatted roman shade is a flat roman shade with ribs or slats sewn at each row of rings. The ribs give the roman shade structure and make the shade easier to pleat and fold.
This is a great roman shade style to choose if you want to avoid as much fuss as possible when raising your roman shades… however, with this style you WILL have seams showing on the front of your shade. If you have a patterned fabric, this may not be the right choice for you.
London Shade
A london shade is a roman shade with only 2 lift cords. In a way, a london shade is very similar to a relaxed roman shade. They key differences are the inverted box pleats at each lift cord… and the placement of the lift cords several inches in from the side edges… creating butterfly tails.
The result is a full, relaxed and elegant window treatment. The wider the window… the fuller the roman shade. This style is not recommended for narrow windows or windows less than 30″ wide.
Butterfly Roman Shade
A butterfly roman shade is a cross between a london shade and a relaxed roman shade. The lift cord placement is just like a london shade… the biggest difference is that there are no box pleats at the lift cords. This creates a simpler look with less fullness.
Relaxed Roman Shades
A relaxed roman shade is a roman shade that has only 2 lift cords… one on each side. This creates a swagging effect when the shade is raised.
The photo shows an inverted box pleat in the center that gives the shade professional style and more fullness. But you can make a relaxed roman shade without the box pleat.
Pleated Balloon Shade and Valance
A pleated balloon shade is a wonderful window treatment. It has evenly spaced inverted box pleats across the shade… and when raised creates dramatic poufs in between each lift cord. You can make this a functional shade or create a full balloon valance that will look wonderful over any size window.
Roman Shade Valance
A roman shade valance is a window valance that looks like a roman shade. This particular style has permanent folds… basically a short hobbled roman shade. This pattern uses some no sew techniques.
