Sometimes, someone will land on the Sew Lovely website or Etsy shop page and go to the Contact Me link and message, “I want roman shades… how do I get started??” I thought I’d provide some more information here, and tips to getting a quick quote.

Since I’m a rather small business, I (Kelly) do customer service as well as construct the shades. I’ve thought to hire some help with the customer service, but haven’t figured out the best way to do that and I really do enjoy being the one who is communicating with customers. I get to know my customers and also since it’s my own business, I really care about the customer service end of it and making sure the customers are happy etc. The downside is, since I do both the customer service and construct the shades, my response time is not always super fast. Over the years, I think it’s been much quicker, but I do still sometimes have a little delay in responding. If you don’t hear back for some reason, please do send me a quick reminder and I’ll usually check back on any missed messages etc. If you placed an order and need help with the order, or have any issue at all, you can also text my work number listed on the website, or if the order was placed on Etsy you can click “need help with my order” and those messages show up in a particular folder on Etsy so they stand out in my inbox. Thankfully, I get a large amount of messages and quote requests each day (so thankful for that because business is good) so it’s usually a good amount of computer time for me and workroom time during the week.

The fastest way to get into the production line, without waiting for a quote, would be to purchase the roman shades directly using the link “Purchase now without a quote.” You can plug in your numbers and purchase, and then I will contact you soon after via email with how many yards to send us (or your may purchase our fabric) and instructions on where to mail fabric. If you have a unique order, or a wide shade etc, please do not use this option and fill out the other quote form. Most average size windows (around 38 wide x 62 long) and under, require 2 yards of fabric. If your shade is wide, over 51” wide, you will need more fabric because most fabric is only 54” wide.

Please don’t purchase the generic listings on Etsy. In the description on the listings, it mentions to please contact us for custom listings only or purchase on sewlovelybykelly.com. The generic listings on Etsy are estimated prices to give customers an idea of cost of labor, and not specific to your size. We provide lining materials, and the generic ones do not include that cost either. You can message us via Etsy and copy and paste the quote form that is on the Etsy listings.

A few more thing I just wanted to mention that will speed up the process a bit if submitting. quote or emailing …

Please provide the following details for roman shades. If it’s in this "list type format and not a very long email, it will read easier and might provide faster quoting.

Format preferred for requests (copy and paste):

number of shades-

W X L of each in inches (please put the width first and then length) -

Corded, cordless or continuous chain-

Liner type-

Inside or outside mount-

ship to state-

any additional comments:

Sending me attachments (PDFs, Excel sheets, photos with your measurements on them) are NOT the preferred method to send your information.

Also even though they’re very nice, I prefer NOT to get only a PDF, Excel sheet or drawings attachment with your measurements. I prefer it in that list format above just to speed up the process for me. I usually copy and paste the information in that list above and it’s harder when it’s an Excel sheet or attachment to copy and paste and I don’t want to risk re-typing any numbers and making an error. I see a lot of numbers throughout the day, so it’s just easier if I see it in that simple list format with minimal unrelated details etc. For information on measuring please see our page that shows some photos and a lot of helpful information. If you’d like to send me a photo of your window (if you are unsure) that is also super helpful.

Hope this is helpful! We are usually able to respond within 48 hours to quotes and messages. I usually do most new quoting later, at night time, and respond to other messages throughout the day and also at night when I’m able.