Lampshade making

[Nigel Watts]

Has anyone mastered the this art? I have been trying to make my own for a ruinously expensive pair of table lamps I bought a couple of years ago and they are not going at all well. One of my main difficulties is that I cant find a good textbook on the subject.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Well. according to a quick rendezvous with Monsieur Google, the following may help:

Top of the list is this from Kirsty Allsop (you knew I'd put her on top!)

http://www.channel4.com/4homes/how-to/craft/how-to-make-a-lampshade

A couple of books from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fabric-Lampshades-Illustrated-Making-Variety/dp/1447413482
http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Make-Lampshades-Illustrated-Pie-Fill/dp/1447413458 - this purports to be "An Illustrated Guide to Making Pleated, Fluted, Pie-Fill, Tubular and Wall Bracket Shades

A YouTube blockbuster on making a Victorian lampshade:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AgvuZDNmv4 which also has some relevant links in the RHS

And a website dedicated to it:

http://howtomakelampshades.co.uk/guides/

No idea of an of these are any good - I'm just looking for displacement tasks so I don't have to go back to the painting!

 

[LadyArowana]

... Kirsty Allsop (you knew I'd put her on top!)

I think that's a little too much information :lol:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

... Kirsty Allsop (you knew I'd put her on top!)

I think that's a little too much information :lol:

Double entendre was entirely deliberate :wink: . I'm trying to flush out Penners who seems quiet at the moment. I hope he is not suffering with his back; he is martyr to it you know. 8)

 

[Penners]

Will you lot please keep the noise down? There are people trying to sleep you know. :evil:

 

[Nigel Watts]

There seems to be an inverse correlation between skill in making lampshades and ability to write a clear book on the subject.

I think I have diagnosed my main problem: I had not wrapped the frame with the right material. I used silk, and not wound it tightly enough. As a result I was not able to get enough tension into the covering fabric. I have now wound my second frame in rayon tape (for the uprights) and cotton tape for the top and bottom rings. This foundation seems much firmer.

The other problem (the mathematics of which could be quite interesting) is that I now realise it is not possible to get a taught fabric to form a truncated cone when stretched between circles forming the top and bottom on the conic section, other than by pleating it. Since I did not buy either the right kind of silk or a large enough quantity to do pleats I will end up with a different shape from that which I intended.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh dear. If all goes wrong there are always these people who could make one in your chosen fabric.

http://www.lampshades.uk.com/catalog.php

It sounds very complex.

 

[piper]

I now realise it is not possible to get a taught fabric to form a truncated cone when stretched between circles forming the top and bottom on the conic section, other than by pleating it.

(I'm getting in first with the pedantry this time - before Penners notices.)

It's your own fault, Nigel. You've been trying to give it maths lessons, and teach it about conic sections. You should have known that once you give fabric an education it gets above itself, thinks it knows better, and doesn't do as it's told. Just teach it to know its place - and pleat it soundly if it gives you any cheek.

 

[robgil]

... Kirsty Allsop (you knew I'd put her on top!)

I think that's a little too much information :lol:

Double entendre was entirely deliberate :wink: . I'm trying to flush out Penners who seems quiet at the moment. I hope he is not suffering with his back; he is martyr to it you know. 8)

I think anybody who puts Kirsty ontop may suffer with a bad back. :shock:

 

[Nigel Watts]

Oh dear. If all goes wrong there are always these people who could make one in your chosen fabric.

http://www.lampshades.uk.com/catalog.php

It sounds very complex.

Thanks for the link Joce. As with making my curtains, I am determined to have a go at these.

The images on the site illustrate my second issue perfectly. The first picture shows a conical shape with taught fabric. Between the wire uprights the fabric pulls in to form a concave surface whereas in the pleated version it doesn't. Pleated shades seem to be more in vogue these days than unpleated ones but I think I will continue with my original plan and live with the stretched look.

 

[Penners]

I think anybody who puts Kirsty ontop may suffer with a bad back.

Oh, thanks Rob! I promised her I would never tell.

 

[robgil]

So long as you dont let it slip about our little affair Penners .. ooops....
Ahem , we erm we were drunk , eeerm but you see Penners was in stockings , oooh errrm.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I agree with you Nigel, stretched out ones are far more elegant :roll:

 

[worms]

I agree with you Nigel, stretched out ones are far more elegant :roll:

I know less than nothing about fabric or working with it (and I can't believe I have the temerity to contribute to a discussion on lampshade making), so this comment may be way off beam...

Is it possible that instead of being stretched to fit, the fabric is shrunk to fit? Some long-unused neurone suggest that this was what they did with bi-planes?

 

[Nigel Watts]

instead of being stretched to fit, the fabric is shrunk to fit?

Nice idea, but I am not sure it would work with silk.

Once I had created a firm foundation onto which to sew the fabric I was able to get the fabric taut (my spelling is improving thanks to piper). I am now installing the balloon lining (also in silk) which is a little tricker to get completely tight, but will be less visible, so the odd wrinkle won't matter too much. The final stage will be to stick on or sew on the trim, which I have yet to source.

I am now starting to appreciate why bespoke handmade lamshades are not that cheap.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Sounds wonderful - you must show us when it's finished.

What kind of trim are you going for? Curtain Corner have some nice ones, and they've good with me when I've changed my mind. I'm wondering what a bit of Greek Key would look like in the scheme, but probably it's a bit early.

http://www.samuelandsons.com/product.php?itemNo=36056&colorCode=11

That website has some mouthwatering passementerie.

 

[piper]

I was able to get the fabric taut (my spelling is improving thanks to piper).

Thank you, Nigel. I'm glad I taught you that. I was afraid you might be so outraged at my making a joke of your spelling, that you would try to sue me for having committed a tort against you. (A bit laboured, I know, but I was trying to think of a way to get that word in when composing my last post)

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Well, whoever taught you tort may have been wearing a taut skirt for you to have remembered the lesson so well - and were they eating a tort whilst they taught you tort?

With apologies to Middi! 8)

 

[Nigel Watts]

As for trimmings, I was thinking of using something like this from Henry Newbery:

The reason I didn't rise to Piper's pendantry was that I didn't realise that I had made a mistake. It was only when I came to type the word again that the penny dropped.

 

[Feltwell]

That website has some mouthwatering passementerie.

Sounds delicious - but surely sending cream cakes by mail order is a receipe for a messy disaster?