Create a one-of-a-kind lamp shade for your home using your own fabric!
I love finally completing a project that’s been on my to-do list for years. It’s a mix of relief, accomplishment and why-didn’t-I-do-this-sooner. I wanted to make a custom lamp shade for Miss A’s room when we finished it almost 3 years ago. But I never found the fabric I wanted, so I never bought a new lamp shade.
I’ve had this lamp base since college, and the shade has been swapped a few times. Most recently I donated an old lamp and put its shade on the silver base in Miss A’s room. It was an ill-fitting empire shade, as you can see in the picture below. One thing is for sure: that one would not be easy to customize with fabric.
I’ve meant to buy a replacement drum shade from Target forever, but even though I make multiple trips there each week, I kept forgetting.
Finally, when Baby G’s nursery started coming together, I remembered to pick up a new shade. Lucky for me, it was on sale, and I think I paid about $12. Not too shabby!
Michael Miller Wee Wander Woods Petal, from Fabric.com
I originally had different fabric picked out for her room when I put the vision board together. Then I found this adorable print of a sweet little girl with a deer. It was perfect for my woodland-themed nursery.
So this week I gathered my supplies and set out to finish a project that had been on my list for literally years.
Supplies for your custom lamp shade:
- tacky glue or fabric adhesive
- spray adhesive
- old newspaper
- a pen
- drum shade (of course)
- painter’s tape, or any other tape
- your chosen fabric
- trim ribbon (optional)
Simple enough! Gather your supplies. Roll your drum shade across the newspaper, marking the edges as you go. This will be your template.
Cut out the newspaper template and wrap it around the shade to make sure it fits properly. This is where I used tape, since I had to join several pieces together. I taped it to the shade in spots to keep it in place while I checked the fit. It looked like a good match to me! Use your template to cut out your fabric.
One little note about my fabric. Since it had scenes printed on it, rather than a solid or simple pattern, I wanted certain scenes to stand out. If you use this kind of fabric, find your favorite part and make sure it lands on the front of the shade, not the back. I also only had a yard of the fabric, which wasn’t quite wide enough to cover the whole template. I had to piece another section together, but it’s hard to spot and it’s near the back of the lamp shade, so no one is the wiser!
I marked about an inch beyond the template and cut the fabric there. This gives some wiggle room when wrapping the shade.
I sprayed the adhesive on the fabric and pressed it against the drum shade, smoothing out any bubbles as I went. I did this part outside because the fumes were a little much. I also put newspaper under the fabric so I wouldn’t get adhesive on my coffee table on the back porch.
Once the fabric was on the shade, I trimmed the excess along the edges to about 1/2 inch from the shade.
Then I ran a line of tacky glue along the inside edge of the shade and wrapped the extra fabric over it. You can see that the edge has raised piping on the inside. The fabric wrapped neatly around the piping and looked pretty clean from the inside.
Finally, I finished the top and bottom edges of the shade with some pink grosgrain ribbon, glued on with more tacky glue. You don’t have to do this, but I thought it made the shade look a little more polished.
And you’re done! Such an easy project. I have no idea why it took me so long. I love the added character it gives the room, and I can’t wait to see all of the elements complete and working together. It’s getting closer!
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