Good morning everyone!
We have so many projects on the go right now and I have been up to my eyeballs in fabric and sewing lately. I am an outdoors person as I have mentioned before so, I am on the war path to get all of the sewing done for the show and etsy before the weather changes and my shovel starts exercising on its jealousy issues of late.
Just a little project to share today that I am sure somewhere out there in social media land someone has done it better but I am adding my 2 cents in anyways.
I got a great, fantastic super amazing gold gesso lamp at a local antique haunt a few weeks ago and decided to get to the rewiring while in the middle of vacuuming the other day. You cannot stop the creative brain once it starts so, I momentarily abandoned the vacuum and switched out the worn cord. I had just finished up washing a load of grainsacks and inspiration struck.
A grainsack lampshade, well why not?
Here's my little tutorial in case you are so inclined,
SUPPLIES
lampshade (drum shades are easiest. i got mine from walmart for 14.00)
chosen fabric ironed (don't hem and haw, bust out the iron and get that fabric smooth)
measuring tape
scissors
glue gun
spray adhesive
spare hands if you aren't diy inclined
measure the height of the shade and add approx 1.5-2 inches
measure around the widest bottom part of you shade and again add 2 inches
makes the ends of your fabric nice and straight. you can sew them to prevent fraying or you can serge them like i did which does the cutting/sewing in 1 step if you have a serger. hot glue a folded hem or sew a folded hem on 1 end that will later become your last finished edge.
cut your fabric to the size dimensions you measured remembering before you cut to double check you measurements, use a square or level to make sure everything is straight
check the height of your fabric against the side of your lampshade. you will be wrapping the top and bottom over the edge to glue down and you want a nice neat line of about 0.5 inch on the inside. any zig zag cutting will show when you look at your shade from the top or bottom. you can go back and forth at this point taking a bit more off if needed. remember it is like plucking eyebrows. do a little bit at a time or before you know it you took off too much. i kept going back to my serger and taking off a 1/4 inch at a time until i got the right amount. i could have probably done about an inch more in total but i got nervous. grainsacks aren't cheap to be screwing around with.
start at the seam of your lampshade and run a length with your hot glue gun down to attach your end and let the glue dry so you don't pull your fabric crooked.
working in sections, spray your adhesive spray and stick down/smooth with your hand and repeat. i worked in about 6 inch sections making sure my stripe was staying nice and straight.
line up your stripes and use your hot glue to press down your folded end and attach
lay your shade on its side and start hot gluing down the top in a straight circle and repeat with bottom
VOILA!, nice and neat. you can see here I could have taken off about a 0.5 inch more on the top and the bottom but since this material is thick and the lines were nice and straight I am ok with the bit of extra
my new old lamp in its new home. more of a sneak peek of its new home actually. the entire vignette will be shared soon as our home is almost totally done with winter. i have a bit more fabric i have been waiting on to sew and i will show you a full spring reveal
That gold lamp just speaks to me.
Have a great day all,
Meg
