Today I am going to show you the Do It Yourself Box Lampshade. Be warned this is MY FIRST ATTEMPT .... late at night... with a couple of wines in me .... and it still stands!!!
STEP 1
Find yourself an awesome Kit already prepped for you to start this DIY journey. I bought mine from a gorgeous fabric shop in Milton NSW. 'My Patch' www.mypatchfabrics.com.au is a quaint little country house decked out in awesome designer fabrics including Australian made including mine.
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| My Patch Lampshade Kit. (photo courtesy of My Patch) |
Open the kit and have a good read of the instructions and study the materials you have to handle. You will need to add your choice of fabric so go to your stash and grab something AMAZING! What is inside the box..... Lampshade Wires, Laminated Adhesive Paper, Bone Fold Tool, Double Sided Tape, Craft Glue and Instructions!! I particularly like the Pizza box packaging because I can reuse it for other projects instead of throwing into the bin.
STEP 3
Follow the instructions carefully. I won't name them all but I will show you important steps that got me from box to lamp shade.
Very important to cut your fabric slightly larger than the Laminated Adhesive paper because you will stick the two together like covering a text book....easy! (This is explained in detail in the instruction pamphlet). Make sure your fabric is flat with no creases or folds. Ironing it would be the best thing to do.
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| Using my Elemental Rain Drops Design printed on Kona Cotton |
STEP 4
Place the double sided tape on the outside edge of both lampshade rings. No need to be fussy here as long as it goes all the way around. Peel now or peel when required. Ive just set mine aside in case I find it stuck to my leg when I'm not looking...yes that happens at my place.
STEP 5
Laminate the back of your fabric using the same technique as contacting text books. Peel a little and flatten a little making sure there are no lumps bumps bubbles and troubles. You can see that I have an overhang of fabric on the long sides of the Adhesive paper. You need this to wrap around the Lampshade Wire. You can trim these down to 1/2" but no less. Trim the short end of the fabric to be flush with the Adhesive Paper.
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| Laminating the back of your fabric. |
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| Trimming the excess fabric from the short end. |
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| Trimming the overhang of fabric to approx 1/2" |
Add the Double Sided Tape to the short end of the laminated fabric. One end on the fabric side and the other end on the laminate side. Trim off excess tape. Don't peel the top of the tape off just yet. Now take both of your lampshade wires (with the tape peeled back to reveal the sticky edge) and place on the inside of the fabric on the very edge of the Adhesive paper (both long edges). It gets a little fiddly but you can do this by yourself or have an extra pair of hands helping. Roll the sticky edge of the Lampshade Wires along the edge of the fabric until the drum folds over itself. Peel off the tape at the ends of the fabric so the join sticks together and flatten along the join to ensure its adhered with no lumps bumps and errors.
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| Double Sided Tape on the short end. |
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| Rolling the wires along the laminated edge. |
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| Make sure the join has adhered to a full closed position. |
STEP 7
Using the craft glue and your Bone Fold Tool turn the 1/2" excess of fabric around the wire and push between the wire and laminate from the inside for a clean finish. In times of struggle add a little more glue and give up on tucking it under and simply press down to flatten.... have another wine perhaps.
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| Bone Tool demo (where we have not tucked the excess between the wire and laminate) |
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| Finished product with all tucking completed. |
VOILA
You did it... now check you didn't put one of the wires upside down because you'll be kicking yourself at this point. ... blame the wine.... luckily I got it right the first time.
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| 8" lamp shade posing with Scarlett & Lily Doll |
How long did it take? 1 hr
How much did it cost? This depends on your choice of Kit and fabric. You cannot put a price on achieving such a clever skill... but not much at all.
How would you rate the skill level? Easy to medium. There are fiddly parts which require focus but this is certainly an easy project.
Where can I buy this kit? Check out My Patch Fabrics
That's a really cute doll where can I get one? Check out Scarlett & Lily
Can I buy your Lampshade? Why of course. If you would like a custom made in 8", 12" or 16" using any of my fabrics simply email me at natalie@nytf.com.au, find me on Facebook or purchase through my website www.nytf.com.au
