New life for old lamps

This picture probably looks familiar to anyone who owns a paper-shade lamp. No matter how resilient the paper, it will eventually tear.

I've had these lamps from Ikea for quite some time. When the paper gave way I threw everything into the closet with the promise that I would do something with them. The days are getting shorter and the need for more ambient light in the shop drove me into the depths of the closet to retrieve these poor souls.

If you have similar style lamps that need a new do, here's how you can go about it - 

Remove the paper from each of the top and bottom rings and flattened it out in order to get a measurement for the fabric.

 

Next, stitch the sides together (rights sides together) with 1/2" seam allowance, and pressed the seam to one side. Depending on your fabric you may wish to sew a zigzag along the seam to help prevent fraying first.

The idea is to end up with a cylinder of fabric that will provide a nice snug fit over the metal ring. Snug enough that it will hold on with out slipping off, but not so tight that the fabric will be stretched in order to get it to wrap. 

Choose a spot along the ring to begin gluing. Apply a thin strip of glue to the ring and then wrap the fabric down, smoothing out any wrinkles along the way. Keep a moist paper towel nearby to wipe any stray glue and to keep your fingers clean. This can be a messy process.

Any fabric glue will do for the job. I used Dritz No-Sew Glue.

When done with the top ring, let it set for 30 minutes and then turn everything over and begin on the bottom ring in the same manner.

Let the glue set for another 30 minutes then the shade is ready to hang:

Comments

[Edward]

Really an improvement over those awful IKEA shades!