Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Lilly Pulitzer Fabric Lamp Shade

I made this lamp shade the other day with a wire waste basket (found at the dollar store) and various Lilly fabric strips (some vintage prints, others are newer).  It's for our twin daughters' room.  I have to admit, I just love the way it turned out.  Here's a tutorial, if you'd like to make one yourself!

Lamp Shade made with Fabric and Dollar Store Trash Basket
What you'll need:
One wire waste basket (I found mine at the dollar store)
Aprox 1.5 yards of fabric in what ever colors your heart desires
One Lamp that has a screw top shade holder.

-I cut strips of fabric about 1.5" wide.  The length doesn't really matter, but you probably want them to be at least 36" or so, so there's enough to work with.

-Start at the "bottom" of the basket (which becomes the top of the lamp shade).  Tie a knot in the end of the fabric strip so it doesn't slip though and make sure that the knot is on the inside of the basket ( I know, kind of a given.)

-Weave the fabric strips in rows.  I skipped a hole or 'diamond' on every weave that showed on the outer potion of the basket (this allows more fabric to show and less wire).

-Now just weave and weave and then weave some more.  I worked on this in spurts, I added a strip or two when I had a few minutes.  All said, it took about 2-3 hours to weave.

-Once the entire basket was done, I glued the tails of fabric on the inside so they would be secure and made certain that they were very short.  I didn't want any fabric to get near the bulb.

That's it!!

You can see in the photos that the colors really glow when the light is on. Love that!


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.