Embroidered Lamp Shades

Creative embroiderers love to add their stitches to everything. Unless it's moving faster than we are, we'll try to embellish it.

This trait is demonstrated fully in this tutorial. Let your talent shine with custom-made lampshades!

This will put the craft of embroidery in a whole new light. Read on to see how it's done!

It sounds basic, but start with a lamp. I found two at Target: one is a lamp with a traditional shape to its shade, and one is a more contemporary box lamp. Once you have found the lamp that you like, gather the supplies to make a custom fabric shade.

Lampshades are usually made of paper, and I'm going to replace that paper with embroidered fabric.

I made a pattern piece by tracing the original shade. First, I'll demonstrate this using the traditional cone-shaped shade.

Place the shade, seam side down and the shade upright, on the left side of a large piece of paper or tag board. Mark the paper at the top and bottom of the seam.

Then, roll the shade to the right and trace as you go. Stop when you reach the seam again.

Return the shade back to where you started aligning it with the original seam marks and trace the top of the shade just as you did the bottom.

Draw lines connecting the ends of the traced lines.

For a seam allowance, measure and mark 1/2" out along each short end and one inch out along the top and bottom edges. Draw lines connecting the marks.

Next, plan where to position the designs. I'm added four designs to the shade, so I divided the area into four quadrants.

Measure in between the two top corners and divide by two, mark the paper along the top edge and then draw a vertical line down from the mark. Next, measure in between the center line you just drew and each top corner. Divide by two and mark the paper along the top edge. Then, measure in between the center line and each bottom corner. Divide by two and mark the paper along the bottom edge. Draw lines connecting the top and bottom marks. 

Lay the pattern piece on the fabric. Pin in place, and using an air-erase pen or other marking tool, trace the shape.

Mark the fabric at each segment line along the top and bottom of the pattern.

Remove the pattern and draw lines connecting the segment line marks.

To get the proper positioning, I've made paper templates of the designs. See these handy instructions for more information about making and using templates.

Position the templates on the fabric in between the lines - leave at least one inch of space between the edges of the designs and the lines. Also, leave at least 1 1/2" of space between the edges of the designs and the top, bottom, and side edges of the fabric. Poke holes in the center of the templates and mark the fabric. Mark the horizontal and vertical axis points. Remove the templates and draw lines connecting the marks.

Spray a piece of water-soluble stabilizer (I use Vilene) with a quick shot of temporary adhesive. Smooth the fabric on top and hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the lines on the fabric. Attach the hoop to the machine and load the first design. 

Move the hoop so that the needle is aligned with the center point on the fabric. Embroider the design. When the design has finished, repeat the hooping and embroidering process for each of the designs.

When all the designs have completed, trim away the excess stabilizer on the backside of the embroidery.

Cut out the shape. Remove the stabilizer according to package instructions.

After removing the stabilizer, blot the fabric with a towel or paper towels and allow it to air dry. Press the fabric to remove any wrinkles. You may use a bit of starch if you wish. Trim any long stitches from the backside of the embroidery. 

In this photo I'm making where I'll cut the shade. My intent is to leave strips of the original shade behind to support the fabric and keep the shade's shape.

Measure and mark 1/2" out from the seam along each side at the top and bottom of the shade. Then, draw lines connecting the marks. Next, mark the shade at the top and bottom at the opposite side from the seam (the front side). Mark this side of the shade just as you did the seamed side.

Using a tape measure, measure and mark the shade at the top and the bottom half way around in both directions in between the seam and the marks you just made at the front. Then, mark the shade along the sides just as you did the seamed side and the front side.

Using a craft knife, cut along the outer lines and just under the top wire and just over the bottom wire - leaving four one inch wide strips remaining.

o prepare the back piece, lay the embroidered fabric piece on top of the fabric, right sides together, pin in place, and sew a 1/2" seam along the top and bottom edges only - leave the ends open for turning. Then, make slits in the seam allowances about every 1/2". Turn the fabric right side out and press the seams with an iron. Top stitch a 1/2" seam along the top and bottom edges only.

Next, align the short ends together with the right sides together, pin in place, and sew a 1/2" seam along the pinned edge only.

Place the shade onto the lamp. Then, turn the cover right side out and place it over the shade - align the seam of the cover with the seam of the shade. Wrap 1/2" of the top edge of the cover over the top edge of the shade and using fabric glue, glue the cover in place. You can use clothes pins to hold the fabric in place as the glue dries. Next, flip the lamp over with the top of the shade laying flat. Pull the fabric tight, and fold the bottom edge of the cover over 1/2" and glue it in place along the bottom edge of the shade.

And here is the result! A custom-crafted lamp shade. There's no better way to coordinate with your home decor - and show your skill and prowess with the embroidery machine.

Next I worked with a square shade to see how the process differed.

I skipped the paper pattern and traced the shape directly onto the fabric.

Lay the shade directly onto the fabric (at the left side of the fabric) and trace the first side. Then, roll the shade to the right and trace the next side. Repeat this for each of the four sides. Then, measure and mark 1/2" out along each short end and one inch out along the top and bottom edges. Draw lines connecting the marks. There is no need to mark the four segment lines for the designs, as the sections are already drawn.

Mark the templates, embroider the designs, and assemble the cover as instructed earlier.

To prepare the shade, measure and mark 1/2" out from each top and bottom corner. Draw lines connecting the marks and cut the shade along the lines and just under the top wire and just over the bottom wire - leaving the corners of the shade remaining. Add the cover to the shade as instructed earlier. Light up your shade and you are done!

Stitcher Debra showed us pictures of lampshades that she has been making. She used the Eiffel Tower Toile design, and the Inky Cat. Both are terrific choices for this project.

Beautiful work, Debra, and thank you for sharing photos of your work!