Our Hopeful Home: French Script Lampshade Revamp

After

I finally took the plunge and revamped a Club G.W. lampshade. It ended up being a bit of a project, but definitely worth it, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Materials

basic lampshade (I used drum shaped)

fabric of your choice

spray adhesive

fabric glue

large sheet of craft paper

sharp scissors

pins

optional: glue gun

BEFORE:

Okay, so we start off with my $4.00 Club G.W. drum lampshade. You expected anything less? {In case you're not familiar with "Club G.W." it stands for Club Goodwill.} I bought it with the express intent to revamp it, but once I got it home I didn't think it was that bad.....the green was a bit eeccch, but the paisley pattern, well, I liked it. But the show must go on, so I picked up some French script fabric at JoAnn's for 50% off ~ score! I used Waverly's "Pen Pal", 100% cotton.

Once you've got the lampshade and the fabric you'll need to test the two together. By that I mean you need to place the new fabric over the shade and turn on the lamp. Can you see the light? Is it dark or bright? (No one seems to mention this on their tutorials.) Mine was dark! Uh-oh. Sooooo....I proceeded to X-acto knife that silk lining right outta there, hoping it would make the light shine through a bit brighter. It did. Of course I saved the lining for something else!

To trace the shade onto the paper you roll the shade across the paper while tracing it, at both the top and bottom edges, with a pencil. I allowed the paper to actually roll along with the shade, and stopped when the shade was completely covered by the paper. Then I marked that point on the paper as the finish point.

Now you flatten out the paper, extend both the top and bottom lines by one and a half inches each and draw a straight line between them. Cut out your pattern and pin it to the fabric.

When cutting the fabric, make sure to overcut the pattern by one inch all the way around so that you'll be able to create creased, finished edges on both the top and bottom of the shade.

I then used the spray adhesive a bit at a time, meaning I only sprayed a bit of the inside of the fabric at a time. Then I carefully placed the fabric against the shade and rolled it along, spraying as I went.
Once the shade is fully covered, fold over the final edge of the overlapping fabric to give it a finished look and then glue it down with a glue gun. Try to make sure it overlaps a bit so that if the fabric shrinks after it dries you'll still have the shade fully covered. Also, you'll need to fold over and glue down the excess fabric on both the top and bottom edges.

To recap.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

For my first lampshade re-do I'm pretty happy with it.

I know you'll find your very own thrift store lamp shade to revamp (if it isn't already in your garage lol). And when you do, be sure to link it up with Tuesday's Club G.W. with Charm Bracelet Diva. I'd LOVE to see it!

xoxo