The Greek Key Border Plans & How to Scale It to Your Size!

Hi Everyone,

How are y’all doing this last full weekend in January?

I’m okay, but much of my time has been spent helping my younger son, Aaron, get better situated. He is currently staying in a motel just north of San Diego.

Next week, he is moving to Austin, TX. This is good because a lot is happening in Austin, and his father is only an hour and a half away in San Antonio. Did you know that San Antonio is the 7th largest city (in population) in the United States?

 

Anywho, I finally have a template for you for the Greek key border for my living room and den Roman shades.

 

But, first, the bad news.

The fabric I want to get is on backorder for three weeks.

I started this the other evening and remembered I was supposed to get another fabric sample delivered that day. And yes, it was in my mailbox. I was all excited at first, but in the light of day realized that the one on backorder was the perfect fabric for my Greek Key Border Roman shades.

I want to address a related topic in another post: That is common mistakes people make when selecting fabrics for window treatments. However, for those who get sadistic pleasure from seeing me suffer, ;] Please read this old post about 15 hideous mistakes made with fabric. These were either my mistakes or mistakes I heard or read about. The ones I want to discuss are not in the old post.

So, I ordered the memory taffeta and will have to wait. Alas, I won’t have the shades for my party next month.

 

Okay, one last thing before we look at the Greek key border template.

 

Someone wanted to know how to ensure the shades fold properly if they’re so high up.

That’s a great question.

If one is going to use their shades a lot and the window is very tall if they want to do Roman shades, I would probably do the type with stays going horizontally. In any case, to ensure a smooth-working shade, it is best to have the installer stack the folds neatly, and if the fabric is not wool or silk, lightly steam the fabric.

Then, Allow that to dry thoroughly—at least three days. The shades will fall back in place but go slow when raising them.

 

Okay, it’s time for the Greek Key Border template.

 

 

Those numbers stand for inches. There isn’t anything terribly scientific about this. However, I like this shade when there are two corner keys and one middle key. You will also see many of the measurements repeated in unrelated areas.

 

This is lovely, Laurel, but what if our window is a different size to yours?

 

That’s a great question. Your window will very likely be a different size from mine. Most windows are narrower and less tall.

Of course, I can’t do every size. If you’re not adept at doing artwork on Photoshop or picmonkey or even a by-hand drawing, you could show this to your workroom and let them figure it out.

Or, you could also have Dianne from By Harrington make your shades. (Use code: SECRETSALE for 20% off!)

By the way, we discussed the shallow depth for the shade and she corroborated that it’s not a problem. In fact, she has a page on her site that explains it better than I did. 
While she says 3/4″, we’ve done it with only 1/2″ of space available for mounting, and like I’ve said ad nauseum, it was fine.

 

For fun, I did a much smaller window and scaled the design down by about a third.

 

Each square is 3 square inches. Then, I have smaller increments, as shown. You can guess the number if it’s a little larger or smaller. Scaling this down, the width of the ribbon changed as well, and I did 1/2″, but I think if it’s a good-sized room, keeping with the 5/8″ is fine.

Again, there isn’t a perfect formula for this. However, it would be good if your workroom showed you the design before they begin sewing.

Well, that’s all for now!

xo,

 

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