With all the time indoors, I've spent a bit too much time staring at my house. It's definitely put me in the mood to redecorate my space. So, I recovered a lamp shade and made a couple of cushion covers. Its amazing how the small changes can make such a huge difference!
Recovering a lamp shade is super easy-- here's how I did it:
- I used a paper bag and cut it so it was 1 large piece of flat paper (cut out the bottom portion) to make a pattern for the fabric/paper that I wanted to use.
- I pulled my lampshade off my lamp-- luckily it is white and pretty plain (if you have pleats, or a designer fabric that would show through, carefully take off that layer, leaving the posts and under layer/lining on the shade).
- I started on the bottom left of the paper and carefully rolled the lamp shade, marking the top and bottom with pencil on the paper bag as I rolled -- this shows you the shape and amount of fabric you will need. If you have a big shade, you may need to find a larger piece of paper or tape the bags together to form one piece.
- After making it all the way around on the shade, I cut out my pattern that I had made
- Using the pattern, I cut about 1/2 inch from the top and bottom of the pattern so that there is fabric to wrap around the top and bottom edges of the shade. I also cut the fabric approx 3/4 inch longer than your template (for a nice clean seam).
- Using Fabric glue (You could also use spray mount), I spread small amounts of the glue as I rolled the shade--carefully glue the fabric on, by placing the shade down on one end and rolling it slowly, smoothing out wrinkles and bubbles as I went-- similar to how I created the pattern.
- Once I made it all the way around, I folded the fabric onto itself, making a clean neat edge to glue down for your seam.
- For the top and bottom, I cut small slits around the edges around the top and bottom and applied more glue to wrap them into the inside of the shade, creating a nice round edge.
That was it! Pretty easy-- takes a bit of time, but much cheaper than a new lampshade, and if I wanted to go further, I could use trim to cover any imperfections I left at the top and bottom rims of the shade.
Being indoors so much has also inspired me. In the last couple of weeks I've been working on new designs that I want to test to print on fabric. It is a bit of a different process than some of the other items I print, but I have a real desire and interest in fabrics and wallpaper and hope that I can experiment with it enough to make a few designs I love. We'll see. I really want something fun and original that would actually turn into something else fun to buy or use.
Fingers crossed the rain stops soon!
Megan
Harrilu
http://www.harrilu.com/
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