Lampshade(s)
Thanks to a friend who suggested that i should watched the BBC Get Creative series, i have made the first of a few lampshades.
In the programme they appliqued and then embroidered some cloth, and then made the lampshade, although it didnt show how they actually made the lampshade. Enter: google, of course!
Dannells is a great site for first time lampshade makers, and almost certainly for second, third, and hundredth times as well! I particularly liked the really helpful videos about how to use your lampshade making pack. It looked easy, and it was easy. It probably took me about the same 20 minutes as the video lasts. I did refer back to the video just before rolling, and that part was far easier than i had expected. I sent for a 30cm drum version, thinking it would be easier to roll the shade with two equal sized rings. I intended to hang it in the spare bedroom, but changed my mind and now its in the hall, easily visible by any visitors, and nicely visible from part way down the stairs as well.
I already had the fabric in my ‘usable left overs pile’, and was rather hoping it would be about the right size. It was.
I am really pleased with the result. Hence, this is the first of a few more.
Right now i have fabric samples in almost every room, most of which are not quite the right colour…. Please re-open the fabric shops to make this all a bit easier! And i have lampshade packs for what i thought were going to be the first set of new shades. But then the fabric wasn’t right, so now i need to find more fabric (samples) and possibly make the shades in a different order to the one i first envisaged. I will share them when they are completed.
I am using designer poplin, which comes in at £16 -17 per metre, from which i expect to get two shades, and a bit left over for runners. In round figures the packs are about £20 each depending upon what you buy. So in even rounder figures, a new shade is about £30. You can almost certainly buy a shade for less, but it will not be unique and made by you.
So far, the small number of people who have seen the new shade (no visitors allowed inside the house) have all loved it. I foresee requests for new shades from friends, but please, wait until the fabric shops re-open!
One Week, One Pattern
Me Made May 2016
Me Made May 2015
Simplicity Competition
Sew Over it Patterns
all my own work by ann 