Hello lovely crafty followers! So for my recent absence of late, I've been off on a little South American trip and sojourn into the other part of my work-life which involved attending a conference in Buenos Aires.
There are two bits of good news for you today; one is I'm back, rested(ish) and most importantly revived and ready to take on the final 19 projects in the run up to Christmas for my 52 Week : 52 Craft Challenge, and the second is that I've got lots of wonderfully crafty things to report on from Buenos Aires including some major gushing to do about my trip to the city's yarn district.
But for now a little bit of housekeeping, an update on the 52 Week Craft Challenge and a bit of showing off this week's craft.
I bought this castle patterned fabric a few years ago out of a bargain bin in a fabric shop, and of course with it being a bargain I bought loads of it and then proceeded to hoard it and wonder what I would do with it and how I would put it to use. As a bold print, I didn't know how I would put it to use and I was never able to find fabric that both worked with the colours and matched the whimsical and fairy-tale like feel of the pattern... so I looked for projects which would let it stand on its own, and finally lampshade making came to the top of my 'tute-do' list.
Now unfortunately for you lot, I'm not going to give away other people's secrets and/or reinvent the wheel by writing up a tutorial, but it suffices to say if you are interested in making fabric lampshades:
1. it's much easier than you probably think it is...
2. there are lots of tutorials and tips out there if you just google 'fabric lampshade'
Most tutorials will require the use of a sticky back style-pvc, utility rings, and double sided tape... all of which I purchased and my favourite art shop Fred Aldous
The rest if up to you, and believe me it' so easy and wonderfully rewarding. The hardest part is ordering your materials and selecting a fabric for the shade.
Here's what I came up with:
There are two bits of good news for you today; one is I'm back, rested(ish) and most importantly revived and ready to take on the final 19 projects in the run up to Christmas for my 52 Week : 52 Craft Challenge, and the second is that I've got lots of wonderfully crafty things to report on from Buenos Aires including some major gushing to do about my trip to the city's yarn district.
But for now a little bit of housekeeping, an update on the 52 Week Craft Challenge and a bit of showing off this week's craft.
I bought this castle patterned fabric a few years ago out of a bargain bin in a fabric shop, and of course with it being a bargain I bought loads of it and then proceeded to hoard it and wonder what I would do with it and how I would put it to use. As a bold print, I didn't know how I would put it to use and I was never able to find fabric that both worked with the colours and matched the whimsical and fairy-tale like feel of the pattern... so I looked for projects which would let it stand on its own, and finally lampshade making came to the top of my 'tute-do' list.
Now unfortunately for you lot, I'm not going to give away other people's secrets and/or reinvent the wheel by writing up a tutorial, but it suffices to say if you are interested in making fabric lampshades:
1. it's much easier than you probably think it is...
2. there are lots of tutorials and tips out there if you just google 'fabric lampshade'
Most tutorials will require the use of a sticky back style-pvc, utility rings, and double sided tape... all of which I purchased and my favourite art shop Fred Aldous
The rest if up to you, and believe me it' so easy and wonderfully rewarding. The hardest part is ordering your materials and selecting a fabric for the shade.
Here's what I came up with:
What do you think? Personally I love it, I think it would add a bit of whimsy to a child's room or suit a creative workspace or workshop perfectly.
The lampshade is on a 30 cm radius utility ring, and measures about 35 cm from top to bottom so it really shows off the fabric and acts as a nice feature in the room, as well as being functional.
This lampshade will of course be auctioned for Macmillan Cancer Support, along with a few items left from before my holidays - please have a look a what's listed this week and do check back for more updates! (Auctions start tonight, Sunday September 16th and end next Sunday 23rd).
It's gorgeous! I love making lampshades, I've got a serious vintage fabric addiction and making lampshades is such a great way to use bits of my favourites around the house - it makes a nice change from cushion covers! By the way I really love that castle fabric, if you've still got lots of it left we could do a little swap? Let me know if you fancy a snoop around my stash (oo-er Mrs!) Hope you had a great holiday and that the auction goes well. Rachel xx
ReplyDeleteoh Rachel! I don't want to give up any of my castle fabric, but I am also very tempted by the prospect of doing a swap. I'll have a check of how much I have left, when I do some fabric re-organisation later this week... and hopefully I'll have enough for a trade. How much were you wanting?
ReplyDeleteOops sorry Chris, totally forgot to come back and check for a reply! I wouldn't want much, I just love a swap! I've got some amazing floral barkcloth in similar colours if you fancied something that would work with the castle fabric, or you could choose something else from my stash - but no pressure, I understand if you want to keep it all - it's so nice! xx
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