DIY: Ruffled Lamp Shade

I've seen several tutorials on ruffled lamp shades around the blogger world, so if my version is confusing, do some googling and I'm sure you'll find someone much more descriptive and eloquent than me.  Warning: You're going to want to ruffle all of the lampshades in your home after this.  Assuming, of course, that you're a ruffleholic like me.

At the time of creating the lamp shades in our master bedroom (shown above), I wasn't keeping up on the blog, and therefore didn't take step-by-step photos.  Lucky for you, I couldn't resist doing more ruffled lamp shades and recently created another one for an owl lamp in the baby's room.  See?  I'm in love.

Materials

Old lamp shade

Fabric

Cutting & measuring tools

Sewing machine, thread that matches fabric

Hot glue gun

Step 1: Find an old lamp shade, preferably in a color similar to the fabric you will be using.  Measure the circumference of the largest part of the lamp.

Step 2: Wash and iron your fabric.  Cut into long strips.  My strips for the owl lamp are 4" wide.  Each strip will need to be at least twice the length of the circumference of the lamp.  If your lamp is 30" in circumference, then the longest strip should be 4" x 60".

Yeah, my fabric isn't ironed.   I hate ironing.  It still turned out okay.  You should definitely wash it though.  It makes the fabric more soft and ruffleable.  Ruffleable is totally a word.  Also, I don't do anything to keep the edges of the fabric from fraying.  I think it adds to the whole look.  If you want your lamp shade to be tailored and neat with hemmed edges, you might want to rethink the whole ruffles thing in the first place.

Step 3: Sew a single length of thread down the center of each strip.  Do NOT back stitch at the end of each strip.  You will then pull on the thread from each end, and ruffle up the fabric along the length of the thread.  Or use a ruffling foot on your sewing machine and skip all of that.

Step 4: Using a ruler and pencil, mark where you want each ruffle to go on the shade.  This is where you will be placing the hot glue, so space the markings appropriately.  For the owl lamp, I used 4 rows of ruffles.  Make sure that the top and bottom ruffle will adequately cover the edges of the original shade.  And make sure that the ruffles are close enough together so that the original shade won't show through in between the ruffles.

Step 5: Start gluing on the ruffles!  I place a glue bead of 4-5" long at a time, and then work quickly to smoosh the center of the ruffle into the glue.  At the seam of the ruffles (matched to the seam of the lamp shade of course), I overlap by about 1/4" inch and then trim off the extra fabric.

Step 6: Add each ruffle layer until the shade is covered.  Here is my masterpiece in the baby room.

Those Anthropologie inspired curtains?  I used the tutorial from Besserina.  That side table?  A total score from my local antique shop.  That awesome awesome rockin glider and ottoman?  50% off deal from Guilt Groupe.