Let there be light

Since the flat got a makeover, I have been looking for the perfect lampshades for the bedroom and the hallway.

Everything I liked was too expensive - £45 upwards - eek! So I decided that I'd make my own. After trawling the internet I came up with a couple of options of how to do this, my favourite one came from BHG.

I made my parents take me to Ikea to buy inexpensive plain lampshades and I got the fabric there too, I like Ikea fabric, as it's a bit funky and not too expensive.

2 lampshades and 2 metres of fabric cost me £31, which I think is pretty good.

To make both lampshades it took about an hour and I only made 2 mistakes!!

Essentially, all you are doing is recovering a lampshade, so you could buy a second hand lampshade or recover an existing one. Just make sure that the lampshade doesn't have a strong pattern that will show through.

Birdie Lampshade for the Hallway

My 2 mistakes were actually really dumb ones to make, but you live and learn right? Mistake number one - I didn't check how the lampshades would hang from the light fitting I just assumed, so the birdie lampshade for the hallway has the pattern upside down! Hubby assures me that only I will notice this. Not convinced, but it's a sweet thing to say. Mistake number two - I didn't place my pattern to the edge of the fabric when I was cutting the grey flowered one (today's main photo) for the bedroom, so had to use ribbon to hide the joins. I actually think that this mistake has enhanced the lampshade.

I decided not to put a trim round the edges of the lampshades and if you decide to do it this way, you have to trim the edges really neatly, fortunately I have the most lethal dressmaking scissors, which help keep things neat.

I want to make lots of them now, as it was a super easy and fun project. My Dad thinks I am mad and must have better things to do with my time. Ha ha, that's crafters for you.

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