Dollhouse Roman Shade Tutorial: How to Make a Two-Sided Miniature Shade

I wanted the windows on my Country Lane to feel lived in from both sides, so I made a Roman shade that shows one pattern from inside the house and a different one from the street. It’s a small sewing project with a big payoff, and honestly, it’s one of those details that makes people lean in a little closer. Here’s exactly how I made mine. I filmed the whole thing too, you can watch it below.

This post includes affiliate links and if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you), which helps me keep creating and sharing projects like this. View my full list of tools and materials I use for my dollhouse project here.

What You’ll Need

• Scissors
• An iron (I used my Cricut heat press)
• Aleene’s Fabric Fusion
• Clips or sewing pins
• Iron-on interfacing, to stiffen the shade
• Measuring tape and a ruler
• Embroidery floss
• Museum wax (optional, for a removable install)
• Your dollhouse’s interior window frame
• A marker for drawing straight pattern lines
• Sewing machine
• Two fabrics (one for the interior side, one for the exterior side)
• A toothpick (for the rod)
• Wooden beads and paint (for the pole ends)
• Super glue

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Measure and Cut the Interfacing

Start by cutting your interfacing to the exact finished width of the shade inside the window. No seam allowance here, that gets added to the fabric later.

For the length, I took the length of the window frame and multiplied it by two. The length is really up to you, because it decides how many folds your shade ends up with. More length, more folds. I’d recommend cutting a couple of test sizes until you land on the look you like.

Fuse the Interfacing to Your Fabric

Iron the sticky side of the interfacing onto the wrong side (the back) of your fabric. If you’re using a patterned fabric like I did, take a second to center the pattern as best you can before pressing. It’s a tiny shade, so off-center prints show up fast.

Once it’s fused, cut around the interfacing leaving about a quarter inch of seam allowance. Then press that allowance in so the fold sits right against the edge of the interfacing. This is what gives you nice clean edges later.

Repeat this for your back (exterior) fabric, minus the interfacing. One stiffened side is plenty.

Sew the Rod Channel and Edges

Place the two fabrics wrong sides together, so both pretty sides face out. Sew a straight line at the top edge. This will be the top of channel, where the toothpick rod will slide through.

Then sew the two fabrics together around the rest of the shade, about a quarter inch in from the edge and from the line you just sewed at the top. At this point it should look a lot like a fabric bookmark, which is exactly what you want.

Fold, Press, and Glue the Pleats

Now we bring it to life. Fold the shade into pleats until you like how it looks. I refolded mine a few times before I was happy with how it would sit in the window, so don’t feel like you have to nail it on the first try.

Once you’ve got it, clip one side in place and iron the other side flat, then flip and repeat. To lock the folds in, run a thin line of Aleene’s Fabric Fusion inside every fold, on both the front and the back. Clip everything together and set it aside to dry.

Make the Rod and Pole Ends

For the look of a curtain pole, I used painted wooden beads on the ends. Full honesty, these are not 1:12 scale. They’re pretty big, but they’re what I had on hand and I like how they read from a distance. If you want something truer to scale, smaller beads would be a great swap.

Measure a toothpick against the inside of your window frame and cut it to size. Slide it through the channel to test the fit before you commit, then paint the ends whatever color you like.

Assemble and Install

Once everything’s dry, slide the toothpick back through the channel and attach the wooden pole with embroidery floss. Glue the whole thing into the window frame, and it’s ready for the dollhouse.

I set mine in with museum wax so I can pull it out and change things up later. If you’d rather it stay put for good, glue it in place instead.

For more from this build, check out my Country Lane Dollhouse Kit Review & Build Guide.