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One of my most satisfying classes to teach, and also for the students, is  Revamping an old Lampshade Frame. This is where people drag out their old, boring lampshades, strip them down, and cover them with new and exciting fabrics. Making new lamps out of old reminds me of Aladdin, so it is particularly fun that the naughty monkey on my fabric is dressed like him.I love his jaunty suit!

In the Make a Lampshade class where we construct new shades from scratch, I demonstrate the techniques on students’ projects, because they work in pairs and so don’t miss out on that stage. But with this class, everyone makes everything themselves as many of the stages only get done once. Therefore, I make one alongside them, so I can demo on my own.

I didn’t get a photo of the original cover, but it was very much like these old ones – cream and dirty and tired.

Here’s a full length shot – all fresh and colourful.

A close up

We cover linings as well in the class – although in this case, I recycled the old one as it was in excellent condition.

It is a fun day long class where we sit around the table and do simple sewing while chatting and drinking coffee, which to my mind is about as heavenly as it gets. And the skills we cover work on all styles of lampshade frame, from this kind of waisted style to the Tiffany ones that curve outwards, and everything in between.

If you like the idea of giving this a go, if you have a dreary old shade lurking in the corner of your living room, or maybe a set of those adorable little shades found on wall sconces and in caravans, why not come along and have a go. Once you know how to do it, the results are always excellent!