Recover Lampshades

Do you have a lamp that you love dearly, but loathe the lampshade that came with it? Or perhaps you've recently redecorated and want the lamps to match the room, but don't want to break the bank by buying all new lamps. Whatever your reason, recovering your lampshades is the solution. All you'll need is an old lampshade, some new fabric, and a little creativity.

Steps

Taking Measurements

1. Make your work station. You will want to work at a table, as you will need a flat surface that you can spread all of your materials out on. You should consider putting newspaper down on the table and on the ground surrounding your work station because spray adhesive can stick to almost any surface and could do damage to your furniture or floor.
2. Remove the old fabric from the lampshade frame. Only do this if you are using a lampshade that already has fabric on it (rather than just plain liner fabric like most standard lamps have). Remove the trim (if there is any) by pulling on it; it should come off easily. Using scissors, puncture the old fabric and gently cut sections away from the frame. Make sure you don’t cut the liner fabric.
   • Depending on the adhesive used to adhere the fabric to the frame, it may be possible to cut away sections then use your fingers to pry the remaining fragments from the wire of the frame.
3. Lay out a piece of patterning paper and measure your lamp shade. You will want to make sure that the paper is flat and wrinkle free. Roll your lamp shade along the paper, tracing the path it makes with a pencil. It is important to keep track of where on the lamp you began rolling so that you get an exact measurement.
4. Add length to the shape you have traced. You will want a bit of extra fabric so you should add a half inch along both of the long sides of the shape you have traced from your shade, and one inch to one of the short sides.
5. Cut the patterning paper along the lines you have created. You will use this pattern as a stencil for the shape you will cut out of your fabric.
6. Choose your fabric. When recovering a lamp, you will want to choose a fabric that is lightweight and relatively thin. If the fabric is too heavy, the light from the lamp won’t be able to shine through (thus making the lamp obsolete).
   • Another thing to keep in mind is the pattern of your fabric. While lamps that have an equally sized top and bottom will work with any fabric, lamps that have a small top and a larger bottom look a little odd when wrapped in a pattern that is vertically linear. The vertical lines of the fabric tend to look like they are falling into the back seam.

Cutting the Fabric

1. Spread the fabric face down on your work surface. Make sure there is no bunching or wrinkling and that the material is completely smooth on the flat surface. You want it to be smooth so that you do not accidentally cut across a wrinkle and end up with an uneven fabric cover for your lamp.
2. Lay your paper pattern down on the fabric. Make sure that the paper is flat against the fabric. If you want, you can use pins to hold it flush against the fabric.
3. Mark the back of the material. Using a fabric pen or some other drawing tool that you will be able to see on the fabric, trace around the paper stencil. Take great care to be as accurate as possible. The reason you draw on the back of the material is so that your markings don’t show on the finished product.
4. Cut out the material. Using fabric scissors, gently cut the material along the lines created with the aid of the fabric pencil. Remove any remaining fabric from the work surface.

Recovering the Shade

1. Spray your fabric with adhesive. It is very important that you do this in a well ventilated area, as spray adhesive can make you very ill if you breath in too much of it. Remember that spray adhesive is incredibly sticky (and permanent) so make sure you do not get it on anything besides the fabric.
   • If you bought an adhesive-backed fabric, you do not need to spray adhesive onto the fabric. Use the adhesive webbing to adhere the fabric to the lampshade frame. This is managed by using an iron to heat the webbing, move it into position on the frame, then cover the webbing with the fabric. Smooth the fabric as it is moved around the sides of the webbing and the frame until the shade is completely covered.
2. Position your lamp and add the fabric. To do this, center your shade on the fabric so that the edge of the fabric and the existing seam of the shade are lined up. Roll the shade along the fabric, making sure to smooth the fabric down and get out all of the wrinkles.
   • If you are using a patterned fabric, it is also important to make sure that you pattern is lined up straight when you stick the fabric to the shade.
3. Create a seam with the extra fabric of the short edge (the vertical edge). You will have extra fabric to wrap your lamp in. Instead of just leaving the edge of the fabric visible, fold the extra fabric over so that it creates a straight seam. Use a hot glue gun to adhere the seam to the lamp shade. Make sure you only use a little bit of glue--if you use too much, it could leak out from under the seam (which is not the best look).
4. Fold the fabric along the top and bottom edges. In order to give you lamp a finished look, you will want to fold the extra fabric and the top and bottom of the shade so that the fabric sticks to the inside of the shade. Make sure they stay tucked up and under by gluing them down with a hot glue gun.
5. Add the finishing touches. To really make your lampshade look store bought, add a lining around the bottom edge of the lamp. Simply use a hot glue gun to stick a thicker piece of fabric along the top and bottom edges of your lamp. You can also add fringe, rickrack or other types of materials to cover the hems on the top and the bottom of the newly covered lampshade.

Tips

• To make this craft even cheaper, look for old lamps at second hand stores.

Things You'll Need

• Lampshade
• Scissors
• Fabric
• Tape measure
• Ruler
• Fabric pencil
• Adhesive spray
• Iron (if using adhesive-backed fabric)
• Hot glue gun

Sources and Citations

See also

• Make a Light Shade With Plastic Spoons
• Build a Lamp
• Make a String Pendant Lamp
• Repair Your Halogen Lamp
• Use and Maintain Kerosene Lamps
• Make Lampshades
• Make Antler Lamps
• Determine The Proper Height For A Pendant Lamp
• Make a Portable Reading Lamp