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Health and Beauty

Turn a tablecloth into a Roman blind

Turn a vintage tablecloth into a beautiful window treatment

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Get creative and find a new use for a lovely old tablecloth by turning it into a Roman blind. You'll not only save money but get something totally unique. Heavy table linen makes ideal curtains and can be hung from a pole using pincer clips with rings, whereas smaller tablecloths like the one used here are perfect for Roman blinds.

What you'll need

● Tablecloth big enough to cover your window

● Pencil

● Pins

● Rufflette Roman blind tape about five times the width of the tablecloth

● Five lengths of dowelling, each 3cm less than the width of the blind

● Thread

● 25mm x 25mm batten the same width as blind

● Four screw eyelets

● Three pieces of nylon cord, each twice the length plus the width of the blind

● Wooden or brass acorn

● Wall cleat

● Stick-and-sew Velcro the same width as the blind

1. Check that the tablecloth is the right size for your window. Ideally, you shouldn't have to trim the edges at all. Wash and iron the tablecloth and lay it flat.

2. On the back of the cloth, draw a pencil line across its width, 5cm down from the top. Then draw lines across to divide the rest of the cloth into equal sections between 20cm and 30cm, with a half section at the bottom. These lines are where the rod pockets will be attached.

3. Pin the Roman blind pocket tape along each of the pencil lines and sew in place with one neat line of stitching. This will be visible on the front of the blind so use thread that's the same colour as your tablecloth. Slide a piece of dowelling into each pocket and then over-sew the open ends.

4. At the top of the blind, turn down 2.5cm to the wrong side and press. Then pin and stitch the ‘sew' side of the Velcro across the top of the blind on the wrong side. Stitch along both sides in the same direction to avoid puckering. Stick the ‘stick' side of the Velcro to the front of the batten.

5. Screw the four eyelets onto the underside of the batten. One should be at the end of the batten on the side that the blind-pull will go. The others should be evenly spaced along the batten, starting 5cm from each edge. Hang the blind by sticking the two sides of Velcro together.

6. Cut the nylon cord into three pieces and knot the ends to the bottom strip of blind tape. Run the cords up through each strip of tape and through the eyes on the batten, before taking all three cords to one side of the window and back down through the final eyelet.

7. Trim the ends of the cords to the same length and thread through your acorn, then knot to secure. Screw a cleat onto the side of the window and pull up the blind, winding all the cords around the cleat in a figure of eight.