Roman Shade Ring Tape Vs. Individual Rings

Roman shade rings, which are usually made of brass or plastic, are sewn onto the back of the shade and the lift cord is run through them. The spacing of the rings determines the size of the pleats in your shade when it is drawn up.

When it comes to sewing your own roman shades, there are a couple options you can choose from as far as the style of rings you attach to the back.

The first option is to use roman shade ring tape, which is essentially a strip of twill tape with the rings already sewn on it. The rings are evenly spaced on the tape with the most common spacing between rings being 3, 5, or 7 inches, although you can find tape with different spacing.

The second option is to purchase individual roman shade rings rings and sew them on to the back of your project individually. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of each so hopefully you will have a better idea of which is the right choice for your roman shades.

Individual Roman Shade Rings

Advantages:

* You can choose the spacing between rings to completely customize your shade and make the pleats are the exact size you want them to be.

* Individual rings will give your finished shades or blinds a more professional look than using ring tape.

* There is very little stitching that shows through on the front of the shade which again gives them a more professional and finished look.

Disadvantages:

* One downside to choosing individual rings over ring tape is that they take a lot longer to sew on since each ring must be sewn individually.

* It can be difficult to measure correctly to get the rings spaced evenly which means that you may wind up with crooked or inconsistently sized pleats.

Roman Shade Ring Tape

Advantages:

* It is fast and easy since you just have to sew the tape on and not the individual rings.

* The spacing is consistent since the rings are already spaced for you. Since you don't have to measure between rings it also really cuts down on the time involved.

Disadvantages:

* Since you sew the entire length of the ring tape you will have verticle stitch lines running up the front of your shade which can be distracting and give your shades a less professional look.

* The excess stitching can make it so your shade pleats don't hang flat when the shade is pulled up.

* Many beginner sewers struggle with sewing perfectly straight lines. If your line has "wiggles" in it instead of being perfectly straight your shade can look unprofessional.

Hopefully this helps you get a better idea of the pros and cons of both individual roman shade rings and ring tape so you can make the right choice when sewing your own roman shades.