No Shady Business- Giving an old ceiling shade a make-over with new fabric

-

When I started on my DIY journey I was lucky to acquire bags of lovely fabrics for free on recycling app Freegle and I wanted to use them as much as possible in my home decoration DIY projects. 

So, when I found a couple of ceiling shades in a charity shop that were the right size for what I needed but looked drab and tired,I decided to use some of the fabrics I had to give them a new lease of life.

Original drab shade   
 (Pic: Discoloured, stained original shade on the left and up-cycled version with a new fabric on the right)

You will need:

- Fabric of your choice

- Lamp or ceiling shade 

- Fabric glue and a brush to apply the glue ( a cheap paint brush is fine)

- Fabric scissors  

- A pencil and a ruler

- A sheet of paper to make your pattern

- Sewing pins to attach the pattern to your fabric

- Optional: pegs to help you keep the fabric in place as the glue is drying.

The process:

- Lay your lampshade on its side and on top of your paper (towards the right edge of the sheet) 

- Make sure the seam of your lampshade existing fabric is placed close to the edge of the paper 

- Place your pencil at the bottom of the lampshade

- Start rolling the lampshade towards the left of your paper while drawing a line close to the bottom of the shade with your other hand

- Continue rolling and drawing until you reach the lampshade seam again

- Repeat the process but this time draw another line by placing your pencil at the top of the shade


- Once you have done this you should have a rectangular pattern that covers the length of the current fabric used on the shade

- You will also need to draw additional lines on the top and one at the bottom to add an additional 1 cm ( as you will tuck this additional fabric inside the lampshade) for each

- Also allow for an additional 2 cm on one of the short side of the rectangle you have created to do your seam

- Cut your pattern and place it on your ironed fabric using pins to fix it. Remember that if you have a pattern fabric you need to make sure that you match the pattern

- Cut your fabric following the pattern

- Fold over 2cm on one of the short side and iron it. This will be the finished overlap on your shade

- Lightly apply fabric glue to the reverse of the fabric with a paint brush

- Wrap the fabric around the shade making sure you leave 1 cm of spare fabric at the top and bottom

- Make sure your fabric seam overlaps the rest of the fabric so there is no gap

- Apply glue to the fabric sticking out at the top and and bottom and tuck inside the lampshade

- Use pegs if you eat to keep everything in place and let the glue dry then remove the pegs.

That's it! you can now admire your lovely lampshade. 


Location: England, UK

Popular posts from this blog

Home (Not So) Sweet Home - Tips for first-time house buyers

-
Image
I made a lot of mistakes when I bought my house.  I think it was a combination of being a naive first-time house buyer, doing it on my own and the fact that I was so tired of dealing with estate agents and every weekend spending my time viewing one unsuitable property after another. So when I saw my current house after a year of searching I thought ‘that will do’ and with insight I could have been more careful and saved myself a lot of money and heartache.   This is what I had learned from the process of buying a home in England. Mortgage brokers are really useful  One thing I at least got right was using a mortgage broker. I had started a new job recently and I was still in my probation period (which some mortgage lenders do not like) and I also had some additional income from freelancing which made things a bit more complicated. Using a broker meant that they could approach the best lender for someone in my situation and use their contacts and knowledge to make the p...
Read more

DIY Honey and Sweet Almond Oil Body Wash

-
Image
 This body recipe works well for my dry and sensitive skin.  INGREDIENTS - Castile soap  - Pure organic honey - Organic sweet almond oil (you can also use jojoba oil, avocado oil or olive oil - Essential oil (I chose Lavender oil).  MAKING THE PRODUCT Mix in a bowl: - 1/3 cup of Castile soap - 1/3 cup of honey  - 1/3 cup of almond oil  - 30 drops of your chosen essential oil. Once mixed pour the content of your bowl into a pump bottle.  That's it! your DIY body wash is ready to enjoy.  Remember to always do a test for any product you create on a small area of your skin to make sure that it won't cause you any irritation/allergy. 
Read more

From Black to Green: how facing the toughest challenge of my life led to a more sustainable lifestyle

-
Image
In August 2023 I finally managed to move out of London and realise my dream of buying my first house on my own, by the sea. But within the first month in my new little house in a pretty Kent seaside town everything went wrong and I ended up facing the biggest health and financial crisis of my life.  THE HOUSE OF HORRORS... I had been so glad of my escape to the sea and so eager to start a new, healthier life. I craved change and peace of mind after some tough years marred by physical and mental health issues, increasing anxiety, stress and panic attacks.  I soon realised the survey on the house had missed many urgent issues. It needed a full rewire, a new boiler (found to be faulty on the day I got the keys), some new guttering, removal of a gas fire (described as a 'death trap' by the gas engineer) and a kitchen drain gulley replaced.  Then, just as the work was starting on the above, there was a bathroom leak that sent water cascading on the ceiling and wall below. The ...
Read more