Since I attended the amazing bespoke lampshade course at Homemade London I’ve been itching to find an old lampshade to restore and bring back to life. Well, last week I was happily wandering in and out of shops in a town near me, when I stumbled across this old lamp base and shade in an Aladdin’s cave of an antique shop.
Most people would just put it in the bin (and I have to admit, the shade especially is pretty horrid, even though the antique shop owner tried to dust it down and said it might be ‘saveable’!) but I’m hoping I’ll be able to restore it and it’s base to it’s former glory. This might take a bit of a miracle but it’s good to have a challenge isn’t it?! I just have to decide what fabric to use and I think a tassel trim like the original one will look lovely. I think Angela from Cocoon Home might be wishing she never met me when I ask for advice on this little project!
NOTE TO SELF: I must stay away from antique shops; this could become a bit of an obsession, how many lampshades can you have?!
I was thinking in the shower this morning (as you do) and asked myself, “what have I made this week?” It’s Thursday already and, unlike most weeks I haven’t made anything at all. But I have been busy in other ways, honest.
I started the week by posting my details on the lovely on-line magazinefrombritainwithlove’s directory, oh yes and the course notes from my first lampshade workshop were published, very excited about all that.
What else? Well, after the success of the first one, we have booked a date for the next workshop with Arts and Laughs (12th May, in Maidenhead, Berkshire), looking forward to it already.
I’ve been busy listing my machine-embroidered tea-towels on etsy and sold two of them to a friend and my ‘nice cup of tea’ cards seem to be popular too so I’m thinking about getting some printed.
gilhoolie tea-towel montage‘Nice cup of tea’ cards featuring my gilhoolie retro circles pattern
So you see, not much making going on this week. But, I have just finished screen-printing my windmill pattern in turquoise for a lampshade order and I now I’m going to make a ‘nice cup of tea’ card and possibly start on my first wedding picture commission, phew! I’m pretty good at multi-tasking and it’s a good job I like being busy!
So it’s Thursday and have I met my objectives yet this week? Well, I’ve certainly met some of them but I really wanted to start making another hand-stitched empire lampshade, ah well, there’s always tomorrow, (where has the week gone to?!…)
I’ve been meaning to draw a wedding venue for ages and finally got round to it this afternoon. These will be personalised with a message, like my house pictures, and would make a lovely wedding present.
The house is actually where we had our wedding reception nearly thirteen years ago – Court Gardens House, by the river in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. We don’t have any photos of us outside this impressive Georgian mansion so I thought it would be a good one to practice on!
I’ll put them on my folksy and etsy shops next week, along with my machine embroidered tea-towels if I don’t sell them all at the craft fair in Stokenchurch tomorrow (Longburrow Hall, 1 ’til 4pm)…
I love Spoonflower and really wish I had more time to sit and play, I must make time soon. They have regular competitions and I’d like to enter one in the not too distant future.
In the meantime, I received an email a couple of weeks ago from a lady called Beth who had seen my tulip lampshades on etsy but wanted to order the fabric in a different colour to decorate her new baby’s bedroom. I can mix different colours for screen-printing but if you live in another country then Spoonflower is just amazing. I uploaded three new colours, Beth chose one (peachy pink) and we both ordered swatches. Mine arrived today and it looks gorgeous, hooray!
I really hope she likes it and goes ahead and orders fabric to make curtains and bedding for her new baby. You never know, maybe later this year I’ll be posting some photos of the finished room on here, here’s hoping!…
It’s true to say that, until last weekend, I had never taught anyone anything, unless you count teaching my children how to use a knife and fork (still trying with that one!), how to fasten buttons, to have good manners etc etc. So, naturally, the thought of teaching a class how to make a lampshade was a little bit daunting.
But, you know what? I kept on telling myself that I am doing this because I love it, otherwise there’s really no point is there? Would I really want to go back to my old day job, sitting at a desk all day? No way!
So in the end I decided to take a deep breath and have fun which is exactly what I did, I really did!
The workshop was run at Sophie from Arts & Laughs house in Maidenhead so the atmosphere was very relaxed and I was right when I said we would eat lots of cake and drink lots of cups of tea! We even managed to sit out in the garden for a well-deserved break half way through as the weather was so nice (it’s very taxing making lampshades you know!)
It's amazing what you can make from some old curtains! Picture by Clare Kelly (http://passthepattern.tumblr.com/)
Five lovely ladies, including Clare, a freelance journalist for frombritainwithlove, came from as far away as Gloucester to learn how to make a simple drum lampshade. Everyone’s fabric was very different in style: from vertical stripes to floral print to Matisse and a vintage Magic Roundabout curtain.
I won’t go through all the details of the course but it went in a flash, with very few hiccups, and everyone got along brilliantly. By the end of the workshop everyone was smiling and pretty proud of their achievements.
That evening I had a celebratory glass of wine and the next day I was on a real high. Feedback from the workshop couldn’t have been better, with everyone giving every aspect of the day top marks. I know one of the ladies has already been inspired to order supplies to make more lampshades for her home. So, what did I take away from the experience? I think the main thing is that it’s good to put yourself out of your comfort zone sometimes – the rewards can be enormous and teaching others a new skill is great fun. Watch out for more dates coming soon and photos of the workshop too…
Today I made my biggest lampshade so far, for an order through Folksy. It was made using Heather Bailey fabric Hello Roses which I’ve used before to make small lampshades. This was quite a challenge due to the size. I won’t bore you too much but it involved two seams, matching the pattern and trying to center the roses on the lampshade (now I know why we study maths at school!) Now it’s complete and looking lovely I’m pretty pleased, shame it’s a bit too early for a glass of celebratory wine!
It’ll be off in the post later today to Philippa in Sussex…
Yesterday was a bit of an admin day for me as it was the first day back at school and a chance to get my head round things again. Now I can start to work through my gilhoolie to do list (there’s lots on it after a week off!) Today I have been busy getting ready for my first lampshade workshop on Saturday – instructions – check, equipment – check, lampshade kits – check. Looking forward to it, I might even make some cakes to take along; it was so nice when our tutor brought homemade cookies to the lampshade workshop at Homemade London, nothing like the personal touch!
I have also been finishing off some drawings for an art gallery in Romford, Essex. These are all now on my Folksy and Etsy shops and I’m going to stock some for future events. Sorry about the light reflecting on the cellophane but I just neatly packaged them all and didn’t want to get them out again to take the photos.
gilhoolie retro kitchen drawings
Gemma's anniversary present
Oh yes, and while I’m here I thought I’d put this personalised house portrait on my blog. It was commissioned by a lady called Gemma in Birmingham, as a present to her fiancee for their ten year anniversary – ahhh, this was really special to do. It’s the first one I’ve drawn from someone else’ photos and came out really well.
If the weather cheers up this week I’m going to take some photos of wedding venues near here and do some drawings, oh and there’s a building down my road I MUST draw… So lots to do, I really should get ready for the events I’ve got coming up though. I think tomorrow I will be mostly machine embroidering a pile of tea-towels!
Well, I hadn’t until ten days ago. It’s a stitch used a lot in making hand-stitched lampshades and now I have finished making my first one, I can (almost) streetly stitch like a pro! I attended the second day of the bespoke lampshade course at Homemade London on Sunday and I have only just recovered. Not because of sore fingers this time though. It was really good fun again, but also quite intense trying to finish the lampshades and not make any mistakes along the way, I was exhausted by the end of the day. Thank goodness our lovely tutor Angela, was brilliant and calm as well as extremely knowledgeable about sewing and lampshades.
I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will treasure my handmade lampshade (must find a suitable base to go with it now). It felt like we learnt a skill that’s becoming lost in the mass production of everything and I hope I can carry it on. I already have another frame ready to make another one so that I don’t forget how it’s done, you can never have too many lampshades! Hopefully I’ll get a bit quicker this time, these lampshades definitely can’t be made in a hurry!
I decided to make an egg cosy for a little girl’s birthday present this week. Okay so it’s not the latest expensive girly toy but it’s hand-made, personalised and I had fun making it while the boys played with their friends… It’s good practice for next week too, when I’m planning on machine embroidering my pictures onto the pile of tea-towels I have. Not sure they’ll be so easy but just as much fun.
Just a short post today, only one computer in the house and a school project to work on…
I had the best day yesterday on the first part of the bespoke lampshade course at Homemade London. It is being run by Angela Constantinou from Cocoon Home who is lovely; a brilliant teacher who is passionate about sewing and making lampshades.
I really had no idea how traditional lampshades were made but after reading the rest of the instructions on my way home on the train it is starting to become clear! All I can say is it can’t be done in a hurry, involves a lot of pins (and I mean a lot!) and can make your fingers sore but the end result is beautiful. I’m sure my fingers will get used to it, I definitely intend to make more in the near future. It’s funny because I always liked the simplicity of drum lampshades but I am being drawn towards the more old fashioned hand-stitched ones. I think it’s a lot to do with the skill and time that goes into making them but it’s also their pretty shape and pom pom trim that I’m hoping to learn how to attach next week!
Homemade London is lovely too, I’d recommend it to anyone wanting to learn a new skill, from bag-making and lingerie to signature scent creation, upholstery and chandelier making. We had a great time, the class was nice and small, everyone was very friendly and keen to learn. Angela even brought in homemade chocolate cookies and lunch was scrummy, as were the cream cakes in the afternoon – we did do a lot of making and didn’t just sit and eat all day, honest! Can’t wait for the second installment next Sunday…
