Saturday 11 December 2010

Felt Lamp Shade

Hello :)
Sorry I haven't posted recently, I just didn't have the time for felting for a while and then lacked inspiration and motivation.
I spent ages recently trying to find some nice lamp shades, but wasn't impressed with any I saw. So I just ended up buying some very plain ones. I love the way the vessel I made for my girlfriend looks when there's a tealight inside, so I decided to try to make my own shades with felt and hoped they'd look as good.
I made a piece of felt by laying out two fine layers of merino, then a fine layer of curly wools and locks (angora, wensleydale, mohair, bluefaced leicester) then a top layer of fine merino and finished off with silks, ramie and bamboo.

I made a template from the lampshade I'd bought and wanted to cover, and cut out the shape I needed from my felt. I blanket stitched around the edges, then sewed the two seems together. It fits snuggly over the top of the shade, and looks great when the light is shining through :)






For a quick guide on how to make one, visit my flickr page

11 comments:

  1. WOW!!! Now I'm inspired. I know ecactly what you mean about boring lampshades. I think I try this!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  2. Nice Work! I've made one with vellum before..never thought to try wool. Looks great.

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  3. Thanks so much ... I've been looking for an idea something like this. You're a genius!

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  4. Yours is so wonderful in this color!!!
    I made two white ones some months back...
    http://woollove-functional-fiberart.blogspot.com/2010/01/flat-felt-inclusion-conclusion.html
    ...but I never considered that you could still get light through a deeply colored shade and
    have such vibrancy when the lamp is off, too!
    (Put these on my 'to-do' list!!) Thanks for sharing!!!

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  5. Wow !!!!!
    Great idea, super color, but I prefer warm colors

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  6. Fantastic idea for complimenting the colors in a room......Thanks

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  7. I love the light through wool fiber look, and your colors are great .

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  8. Thanks for the really nice comments, everyone :)
    The shade under this is just pale cream.
    I'm wondering what results I'd get using different colours for the shade and cover.

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  9. Funny, I was just looking for something a bit different and I find this - thanks Zed!

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  10. I LOVE this, thanks for the idea!

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