If it is a word, I've been Lampshading. We recently got in a stock of lampshade hoops so people can make their own lampshades, and I wanted to give it a go.
The one on the right is for my living room eventually. It is hard core Mr and MrsC style! It is wider than the other, and as a result I was a scant 2 inches short of fabric, so I had to add a strip up the back. This is not good lampshade making, but I know for next time.
I've been using Pi times the diameter to calculate the fabric needed, but this isn't exact. The fabric gets stuck to the styrene which is then wrapped around the hoops. Somewhere in that process you gain about 2 inches, which is weird.
Anyway, as I haven't found a source of adhesive styrene in NZ, I've been using spray adhesive instead. It is pretty stinky so MrC set a trestle up on the pavement outside for me to work on. Anyone who has been to Wellington knows it's not called WINDY Wellington for nothing, and I ended up with adhesive spray all through my hair and clothes. Yuk! And such a waste of spray too, as so much of it blows away. We may have to do this in the hallway instead. If we did it in the studio, I'd never get rid of the smell!
I love, Love, LOVE these! What a great project. I didn't know they made kits for lampshades, or I would have been planning my own for when I move. As it is I have had many fun ideas for creating your own lamp base from using pieces of drift/scrap wood all the way to premade table legs/fence posts. Mayhaps I'll have to combine the two ideas. There are plenty of fabrics that I would love as home decor pieces, but they have a smaller pattern to them and I worry that it would get lost. That might not be as much of a problem with the smaller scale of a lamp shade and with light coming through the fabric.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration!
Matthew
Oh do give it a go, Matthew, I am sure you can source lampshade bits in the US pretty easily. And small scale prints work just fine too. I just go for big ones because it's how I roll :)
DeleteJeepers, Mrs. C., these are great! I can guess where the dressy shade (hee-hee) might go, but where the New Zealand chintz (?) one?
ReplyDeleteSure hope you didn't breathe much of the spray: I'd imagine it might coat your lungs.
Very best,
Natalie
Not sure where the TreePoppy fabric originated, and it is the one destined for the corner of our living room. It;s the three lasies I am not sure what to do with. I love the fabric but it doesn't GO with anything! WAAAH! As it is, both are in the window display and will be on our class samples display for some time to come. I've already ahd two signups for the classes :)
DeleteO yes, and no breathing in thank goodness. Years of living in a windy city, you get smart about these things :)
DeleteYour lampshading is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing your trials (the spraying in the wind sounds awful!) and your beautiful results. I bought entirely too much fabric to make curtains and I've been wondering about making a matching lampshade to go with it so this comes at the perfect time.
ReplyDeleteExcellent!
DeleteThese are wonderful! I especially love that villa nova fabric. I have some fabric to recover lampshades with, but I haven't got around to doing it yet.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.. I really love the one with the girls on it. Perfect for the sewing room..
ReplyDelete