In this week's blog post, I wanted to show you how to prepare designs for a lampshade cover. The company Dannells has a printing service available allowing you to create a design for your own bespoke lampshade. My two students worked with me to produce the amazing lampshades above - let me show you the process!
The first stage is to create a design. Here you can see my daughter working on a range of motifs. In the photo below, you can see the wonderful drawings her and a friend created for incorporation into a design. Birds and plants in one drawing, mystical mermaids and unicorns with rainbow and sunshine in the other.
The next stage is to scan these into a computer and create the lampshade design. Dannells provides templates for you to work with so that you get the measurements correct. A learning point for me, especially when working with children, is to make sure there is plenty of 'blank space' around the motifs, just incase the fabric goes on a bit squint onto the lampshade. You want to achieve a good balance between blank background space and the motifs being featured. You also want to consider how many motifs with fit onto the length of the lampshade fabric, being sure to account for the seam. Make sure you won't cut a key motif in half!
Dannells prints the designs you send through onto fabric which has been specifically produced for covering lampshades. The colours and details are accurately reproduced. The girls were delighted to see their drawings on fabric! Next week, we will go through the process of how to cover a lampshade.
