Other stuff

Homemade lampshades

Hello everyone! Sorry it’s been a while since I posted. I know this blog is documenting my projects and there haven’t been many lately, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t missed it. I’ve been slowly getting back to normal and I’m excited to share a new make with you all.

This blog post is brought to you in partnership with Need Craft and Dannells! One of things I thought I’d try for the new house is a spot of lampshade making. Given my love of gin, bottle lamps seemed like the perfect choice. They sent me two 25cm Empire Shade kits to test in exchange for a review. The plan is to use them as bedside table lamps in a Palm Springs inspired bedroom. 

I’m using Rock Rose bottles, one of which is a special edition from my Craft Gin Club subscription. They have a beautiful coral pattern on the pottery bottles. And I picked up my lamp fixtures from eBay. Dannells sell bottle lamp conversion kits but I had a hankering to have one with a mid-wire switch rather than a bulb level switch.

The kit includes everything you need apart from fabric. So I chose a Moda cotton called summer sweet sprinkle geranium from Empress Mills. This colourway is now sold out but there are some other cute shades. You can use pretty much any medium weight fabric which means you can match your curtains, use up old scraps or indulge in that luscious velvet you’ve been eyeing up.

Everything comes together incredibly quickly. You adhere the PVC backing to your fabric, then add double sided tape to your hoops before rolling your shade together and tucking away the ends neatly. There’s even a handy tool included to press the ends into place.

There’s a super helpful photo guide included with your kit. PLUS a handy video made by an old friend. And last but not least, this handy tip helped me get a super polished finish on the outside. To give a bit more height used 4″ shade carriers which prop your shade up higher, perfect to see more of my gin bottles! 

They turned out so good. Jimi only gave them 9/10 but that’s because he said I didn’t choose fabric covered in my face. That would definitely be interesting… but I think these will go perfectly in the new room. Now I just need to move house! Once I’m in, I think I’ll make a few more shades. I’ve got a hankering to covering the inside as well as the outside. There’s always room for improvement right?

And to see them in place, here’s a snap of my almost finished guestroom, featuring the marvellous lamps!

 

(1) Comment

  1. Carol Thomas says:

    Very professional! Eye popping colour! Cute pattern! And Gin bottles! A winning combination.

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