Lampshade DIY
February 27, 2013 by Aimee • 32 Comments
I had some leftover fabric when I sewed the kitchen curtains…it was perfect for a quick lampshade diy. We’ve had a few days of nice weather and baseball practice is back in full force. Time to start adding touches of color to my home! Recovering the lamp shade was pretty easy, I thought it’d be fun to share how I did it with you..
I separated the shade from the lamp base, grabbed my sewing scissors, some fabric spray adhesive, and the fabric I wanted to use.
A little sneak peek behind the lamp in the picture below — I’m loving my new family organization system. Life moves so fast, I was having trouble keeping track of life’s important dates! More on that later.
My lampshade is 9 inches tall and slightly angled. I used a piece of fabric, 38 inches long and 17 inches wide. Depending on the angle of your shade you’ll need to allow enough fabric. The more angled the shade, the more fabric you will need and the more obvious your fabric’s pattern change will be.
To wrap the fabric around the lampshade, I sprayed the wrong side of the fabric, then started attaching one end of the fabric to the lampshade, after a small portion was adhered, I used my hands to remove bubbles, then continued wrapping. I continued pressing the fabric to the shade until the shade was completely covered.
When the shade was covered, I trimmed the excess around the top and bottom, leaving about a half an inch to fold into the inside of the lampshade. Once trimmed, I glued the seam with more fabric glue.
Then I cut a slit where the fabric meets the shade’s frame.
The seam was attached with a bit more fabric glue — I folded the top piece of the seam under 1/8 of an inch before adding the adhesive.
If your shade will be visible you may want to choose fabric in a small pattern without visible repeats. I didn’t worry about the repeat pattern of my fabric and think it’s still real cute!
Here’s the lamp looking pretty in my living room!
I really like the bright golden yellow in the fabric. I think it’s like a neutral, because there are few colors that don’t blend well with it. It also adds a pop of color which is what everyone needs going into spring! To Spring…….
You are so right Diana…yellow is a neutral in my home, too!! Welcome Spring!!!
XO, Aimee
Love this! LOVE the fabric, where did you find it?
Thanks so much April! I ordered it online…I’ll figure it out and get back to you! XO, Aimee
Here’s a link for the fabric April! http://www.texassusannie.com/Traditions-Corn-Yellow-White-Slub_p_1648.html
Great tutorial. I love your fabric and the shade looks beautiful. Hugs, Marty
Thanks so much Marty!!! XO, Aimee
Great tutorial, I’ve been wanting to do mine, as my shades are getting old. I like your fabric choise. Thank you.
FABBY
love that fabric! do you know the name of the print? what a great update.
Here’s a link for the fabric Rhiannon! http://www.texassusannie.com/Traditions-Corn-Yellow-White-Slub_p_1648.html
love the fabric pattern and color!
Looks great! I have been wanting to try and cover some lamp shades of mine. Not sure why, but I am super nervous I will mess up the whole thing. Then I will be out of a lamp shade. lol Love the pop of yellow against your room decor.
Well isn’t that just the most adorable lampshade I’ve ever seen?! Looks pretty simple, too! Must try! Thanks for sharing with us!!
~Abby =)
So prety and it sounds like it would be easy to do…………..
OOH, I love this! I have a few lampshades I’d like to redo, and this looks like a perfect way to do it. I also LOVE the fabric you chose to cover this lamp…Gorgeous!!! =D Thanks for sharing this!
Wow! What an incredible difference that made! I love the fabric you chose, very vibrant and pretty!
Selene @ restorationbeauty.com
Great makeover! I spruced up a couple of lampshades this winter, and it is amazing what a little ingenuity will do! Happy Thursday from the enchanted oven.
xo,
Lisa
Just what I needed to see. I have an antique lamp but the shade has seen its days of brightbess. Thank you for sharing.
I have a lampshade that is navy with white polka dots that I want to cover, any recommondations since yours was white?
I LOVE this…and will be covering two lampshades during naptime today (hopefully!) I have been bugged by these ugly shades for a while…and wanted to do something with them.
thanks for the idea!
Julie
Awesome Julie! Just make sure you leave ample fabric…you can always trim it more later! XO, Aimee
This looks amazing! I would love for you to join the Pinworthy Projects link party! http://www.atkinsondrive.com/pinworthy-projects-link-party-week-9/
I have several shades that need a makeover! Love your fabric choice.
Debbie
Love the fresh and clean look of your lampshade!
I’m having a link party at Homa Style that ends Tuesday evening.
I would love you to link up!
The link to the party is
http://homastyle.com/wp/2013/02/27/inspire-me-link-party/
I help promote links to my parties by additional links to facebook, twitter, or pinterest.
The shade looks great, such beautiful fabric. Thanks for the tutorial!
It turned out great Aimee! I love your choice of fabric for the shade too. Little Bit
Spray adhesive is so amazing to me! I just love it. Great idea! xo Kristin
I just love this Aimee! It’s so simple and elegant! I featured this today on my blog, so stop by and check it out/grab a Featured button: http://practicallyfunctional.net/2013/03/the-fun-in-functional-link-party-40/
I love this!! What type of fabric did you use? It looks like a heavier canvas, but I’m wondering if you could do it with any material.
I absolutely love the way it turned out! Thanks so much for sharing! Now my head is spinning thinking of what I can do to my lamps!
Looks so awesome! I love the pop of yellow!
Selene @ restorationbeauty.com
The fabric is beautiful. Love your lamp. It’s great when you have just the right left-over to complete yet another project, right?