Lampshade Workshop

Nothing boosts the creative mojo like a workshop with inspirational friends! Yesterday I attended a lampshade workshop at Eternal Maker in Chichester for a morning of crafty fun and inspiration. And oh, the fabrics! This shop is Heaven on Earth to me, Aladdin’s Cave, a candy shop...

First we snooped around the shop to find fabrics for our lampshades. I planned on making one for Bunny’s room to replace her ceiling shade, which needed updating. Here is what I made

How thrilled was I to find this panda fabric? Can you see them peeking out? Perfect for a nearly 10-year-old, cute but not little girlie. Finished off with a wee bit o’ kitsch, pom pom ribbon in her favourite colour.

The most awesome bit? Not one stitch needed, took next to no time (goes more quickly when you’re not chattering away with the gals, sipping tea and eating cookies!), and the kit costs £10.50 online. We all left with an extra kit to make another lampshade at home.

 

This morning I made a lampshade for Little Flower’s room. Here is the kit provided

And here’s what I added

 

This is one of Little Flower’s fitted cot sheets from when she was a baby. I found the ribbon in a drawer. Her room still has the curtains and various accessories that were bought with this sheet, so I decided to upcycle it to make a coordinating bedside lamp. My grandma had already used some of the fabric pattern to make some decorative cushions.

You won’t believe how easy this is! Unroll the self-adhesive lampshade panel and measure it against the fabric.

 

Cut the fabric to fit with a margin around the panel, then peel off the sticky side and adhere it to the fabric.

Trim the fabric, bend the sides where indicated, then peel off the panel edges.

The fun bit is winding very thin, very strong double-sided tape around the lampshade rings, lining them up with the fabric edges, and rolling away!

More tape inside the ring, then fold over those ragged edges and tuck under.

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to add ribbon trim to the top and bottom

And ta-dah!!! The finished lamp

Is this fantastic or what? Took about half an hour. Now I’m roaming the house to see what else needs a new lampshade...I see visions of small patchwork, one with appliqué and freestyle machine embroidery...oh me oh my!

You can buy these online here. Of course, I did supplement my purchase with a few fat quarters, a fabric bundle, some ribbon and a metre of fabric for an embroidery project...but I’ll show you those next time...

Happy crafting!

Chrissie x