More lampshades
Further to my first attempt to make lampshades…..
I’ve managed to make some more.
The spare bedroom now has matching travel themed shades, and i accidentally stumbled on some fabric that matches the study curtains very well, so the study has a new shade as well.
Just to say that whilst this may be a sewing blog primarily, there is no sewing involved in making these shades. I suppose that there are two tricks to getting it right. First, ironing the fabric flat, so that there are no crumples when you stick the fabric to the ‘sticky back plastic’ provided (ala Blue Peter type thing!) And then neatly pushing the fabric edges round the frame at the top and bottom. There is a tool provided to do this, but it can be fiddly, and the tool mis-shapes. But it is very satisfying when it tucks in with a little click!
The spare bedroom is a case of replacing a 45 year old lampshade which i made myself when i was a teenager! If i remember rightly, i had the money from my Grandma to buy the constituent parts; the base, the frame, the fabric. I don’t recall having a pattern or template; i just had an idea and made it up as i went along. 45 years is good service, and i would never have dreamed that 45 years later i’d be writing a blog post about it – as in, what’s a blog? At some point it looks as if someone has spilt a cup of coffee over it, and the glue attaching the trimming has discoloured and come loose in places. A good wash has got rid of the coffee stains, but the trimming needs removing. Apart from being rather dated, with replacement trimming, it could be re-used.
But hopefully my guests will notice the change of decor and can lie in bed studying the labels from hotels around the world! Whilst i have visited some of the places, these are smart hotels, and i have not stayed in any of them!
And then finally i found some fabric for my own bedroom. It wasn’t based on trawling the real shops – now open. I saw something on Twitter and risked ordering online. It’s Rose and Hubble poplin from Remnant House – a lot less expensive than the fancy designer fabrics in the other rooms! And there are two new runners as well, replacing runners that are not quite as old as the spare bedroom lampshade, but almost certainly made in the late ’80s. It was time for a re-vamp, i think.
One Week, One Pattern
Me Made May 2016
Me Made May 2015
Simplicity Competition
Sew Over it Patterns
all my own work by ann 