Making a DIY lampshade from scratch may seem like a daunting prospect but with this DIY lampshade tutorial, you'll see that it's easy as pie! Over the years, I've made numerous DIY lampshades from scratch and have given several old lampshades makeovers. And I love it when I stumble upon a beautiful new fabric that will look great in my home. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to make an extra large DIY lampshade that measures 17.5 inches high by 14 inches wide. The best part is that this project only takes an hour!
- 14" Lampshade Rings (I used spider-washer fitter rings because my lampshade attaches to my lamp with a harp. If your lampshade attaches to your lamp by sitting over the socket, you'll need euro-fitter lampshade rings).
- Adhesive Styrene with a 17.5 inch height and 45 inch width. (To determine how much styrene you'll need, you multiply your lampshade ring diameter by 3.14 then add 1. So in this case, it's 14 x 3.14 + 1 = 45 inches).
- A Lampshade Glue Kit (This kit includes a moulding stick, tacky lampshade glue and binder clips)
- A fabric of your choice (I chose a fun tribal fabric from my local fabric shop. Cotton is really the easiest fabric to work with, but you can use any)
Apply your fabric to your styrene. Iron your fabric really well before starting so that there aren't any wrinkles in your lampshade. Lay the fabric face down. Peel back a small section of the styrene sheet. Apply the sticky side of the styrene to the back of the fabric. The best way to apply the styrene to the fabric is in a continuous motion of peeling back the backing and pressing down the adhesive side onto the fabric. Peel and press!
Next you'll want to trim your excess fabric away. Trim so that there is a half inch overhanging from each side except for one of the short sides where you'll cut it flush. You'll now have two long sides and one short side with fabric overhang. For that short side, glue down the fabric onto the styrene. This will face the outside of the lampshade.
Once your fabric is applied to the styrene, roll it up into a cylinder. Use the binder clips to hold it in place. Use the arms of the top binder clip facing up. Then take the top lampshade ring and insert it into the cylinder. Make sure the washer is facing down into the cylinder.
Rest the rings between the arms of the binder clips you put down first, then use the other binder clips to secure the ring to the edge of the styrene. You may need to adjust the size of the cylinder at this point so it's snug.
Grab your glue and an old paint brush and apply your glue to some of the overhanging fabric. This glue gets tacky after about 10 seconds at which point you can press the fabric down. Then grab your moulding stick and use it to gently tuck the fabric up behind the ring. Continue doing this around the cylinder. When you're done with the top ring, flip the lampshade over and do the same for the bottom ring.
The final step is to take care of the side seam and glue it down. So all that's needed is a little bit of glue applied to the seam just to make sure that the part where one end of the lampshade meets the other is attached properly. And there you have it! Your DIY lampshade should be fully dry within just a couple of hours.
- 14" Lampshade Rings (I used spider-washer fitter rings because my lampshade attaches to my lamp with a harp. If your lampshade attaches to your lamp by sitting over the socket, you'll need euro-fitter lampshade rings).
- Adhesive Styrene with a 17.5 inch height and 45 inch width. (To determine how much styrene you'll need, you multiply your lampshade ring diameter by 3.14 then add 1. So in this case, it's 14 x 3.14 + 1 = 45 inches).
- A fabric of your choice (I chose a fun tribal fabric from my local fabric shop. Cotton is really the easiest fabric to work with, but you can use any)
