Covering a drum lampshade is one of the most satisfying fabric projects you can do. It's a quick project and the finished product can have such an impact. You can make the lampshade the size you want and choose a fabric which fits the room you wish to put it in. If it's a present, you can customise it to the recipient. It's so much fun! If you like this Woodpecker and Red Berries fabric, you can buy it here.
Recently, I worked alongside one of my friends on one of these - Rachel, who describes herself as "not being crafty AT ALL". (This was as a thank you for all her amazing help she has given me over the last year with relaunching my website, in her role as a marketing consultant.) I wanted to show her how easy it is to make a lampshade, especially if you are using a kit. I buy all my lampshade materials from Needcraft, including their kits. If you use a kit to make a lampshade, everything you need is in it - lampshade rings, double-sided tape and the PVC backing - all you need to do is provide the fabric (and of course, why not buy some from Three Bears Prints on Spoonflower?). It's a project which you can easily complete in 1-2 hours - we managed this despite juggling a baby and entertaining a three year old at the same time!
The process is very simple - peeling off the backing of the PVC and smoothing it onto your ironed fabric. Cover your lampshade rings with double-sided sticky tape, and roll fabric around this set of rings. Rachel's lampshade looks stunning - a really sophisticated centrepiece. Afterwards she commented "I love my new lampshade but I am so surprised at how straightforward it was to make and how professional the results are. I might even try it again with the kingfisher fabric, which is quite something coming from someone who struggles to sew on a button!" You can download a free tutorial on how I approach covering a lampshade - find out lots more about the process here.
