Saturday 31 March 2012

a job well done...

Well here we are, the weekend again, and the Easter school break has started - 2 weeks of no school run, and hopefully lots of time to play out in the sunshine (though not much evidence of that yet today!).  It has been a busy week, and here is one of the reasons why....




I have made a lampshade for a friends' 40th birthday present, from some rather lovely 60s Heals fabric (called Conifer, designed by Gay Dulley).  It's not a massive job to make a lampshade, but it is a fiddly one, and if you mess it up it looks rubbish and isn't easy to fix.  I've been feeling tired and not really in a crafting mood, so I had to keep doing a bit and then putting it down to finish later...well I got there in the end and I think it looks pretty damn good.  She likes it anyway, and that's the main thing (she had chosen the fabric in advance, I wouldn't have risked it not being to her taste!). 

I do love the feeling I get when I've finished making something and it looks lovely; hopefully I'll get a chance to get back into my sewing over the next couple of weeks.  I have an urge to do a bit of patchwork, maybe another cushion cover, or maybe I should start something a bit bigger like a quilt...it might be nice to have an ongoing project to dip into when the mood takes me!  After all, I have got a fair bit of fabric to choose from.....

Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Rachel x

18 comments:

  1. That's lovely! What a clever lady you are. BTW you need to email me your address so I can send you the tea towel! jenlittlebirdie@yahoo.co.uk x

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    1. Oops, I forgot about that! Will do that now before I forget again. And if you ever need a bespoke lampshade, you know where to come....x

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  2. looks amazing, totally stunning! Hope you find your crafting bug over easter. Time to buy shredded wheat and make nests I think. :-)

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    1. thanks love! Definitely nest making time, and easter egg hunting...if you're about at all next week let's get together for a bit of chocolate fueled boy madness!x

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  3. thanks Rachel, yes they grow up super fast! What a fab lampshade, it looks brilliant! Hope you have a lovely weekend x

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    1. thanks love, glad you like it! have a lovely weekend. x

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  4. Lovely choice of fabric - I am sure that your friend will love it. I am amazed at the price of some lampshades in shops! I hope that you get to make some lovely things over Easter

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    1. Hi Jenny, yes I know, I have terrible trouble pricing my work - I'm much better at giving presents! Loving your mini sewing machines. x

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  5. The lampshade is gorgeous looks really good.
    Makes me want to try and change some of mine!
    Hope you have a lovely Easter :)

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  6. This is amazing, both your work and the pattern. Really lovely, Jo xx

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  7. Very beautiful material lampshade, I'm trying to brave up to make one for my living room... I've made one with handmade paper before but a tad daunted when it comes to using material... stretching and glue any advice much appreciated!!

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  8. oooooh! Now I want a lampshade too! ME WANTY!!!! x

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  9. It looks great! Love the pattern too. x

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  10. Lovely work, lovely fabric! was it difficult to do and will you be posting a how-to?

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  11. Thank you all for your lovely comments, I went away for a few days and came back find you all saying such nice things! I must admit to using (whisper it...) a lampshade kit, which comes with everything you need apart from the fabric - I'm sure you could also use good thick paper. I imagine it's not too hard to recover an existing lampshade if you used a good spray adhesive, the fiddliest bit is tucking the fabric behind the wires all the way round - the first couple of lampshades I made were rather less than professional looking; as they were for myself I didn't mind too much, but I wouldn't have wanted to sell them or give them as presents! x

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