Lampshade for a jet fighter

April 29, 2021February 11, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

It’s not every day I’m asked to make a lampshade for an RAF fighter pilot. It’s more likely to be interior designers or curtain makers! I didn’t realise Clive was an ex fighter pilot until he sent me this lovely review after receiving his new lampshade in the post:

The lampshade arrived this morning, safe and sound and completely undamaged. We love it. It is even better than we’d hoped. It was a bit of a guess as to the dimensions and shape on our behalf, but it is perfect and makes our standard lamp look much more modern and contemporary as well as fitting in with the new décor. The way you decided to run the pattern on the fabric is right too. This standard lamp is actually rather special. The stainless steel stem was once the pitot tube sticking out the front of a supersonic Lightning jet fighter, a type of aircraft that I flew for 7 years during my 36-year career as an RAF fighter pilot. It will have flown supersonic on many occasions, so this a sort of supersonic standard lamp! When the Lightning was retired from RAF service I acquired this pitot tube and made it into a standard lamp myself. Thanks for making this for us and for the service you have provided throughout.
Clive from Horncastle

What an amazing story! I don’t think I have made a lampshade for an RAF fighter pilot before and I love the fact that Clive made the standard lamp himself too. It all sounds a bit like the Repair Shop doesn’t it?!

The lampshade itself was super big, and covered in a lovely simple geometric print linen fabric from Ada & Ina. Usually I would advise clients to steer clear of geometric prints for empire lampshades (smaller at the top than at the bottom) as the pattern tends to twist as you go round the lampshade, but in this case it all worked out really well.

For more ideas on fabrics for your lampshades have a look at some of our favourites here. And get in touch if you have a treasured lamp stand that needs a new lampshade!

Here it is in situ on the stand (always great when clients send their own photos to me too!)

Lampshades

Lampshade restoration – before, during and the end result…

June 22, 2012February 9, 2025 Julie Gardner2 Comments

I finished restoring my big empire lampshade today and I thought I’d put some photos on here to show the before – when it was a really tired, ugly lampshade I discovered in the back room of a local antique shop. To during – from binding the rings and struts to pinning the fabric to the frame to stitching the fabric onto the frame and finally hand-stitching the trim to the bottom ring (no glue or double-sided sticky tape here!)

I haven’t added up the number of hours involved but it hasn’t been quick, that’s for sure. However, as with all these projects, I have learnt a lot and definitely become much more efficient at the whole process.

This is going to be a post full of photos of the various stages involved, just so you get an idea.

First, the before shot:

A very dusty, swathed pink-ish crepe satin cover with a glued on trim at the top and tassels at the bottom – hmmm, no wonder it had been overlooked for so long!

Then during:

The stripped frame – in excellent condition, couldn’t believe my luck!

Binding the frame and struts (nice and easy bit) and finally a choice of fabric for the cover, after lots of deliberation and searching:

Stretching and pinning the fabric to the bound frame, see the pins – ouch! (This was then repeated for the silk lining as the fabric behaves differently):

The next step is to mark the strut lines and then remove the fabric and sew it to the other side using a sewing machine. It is then carefully eased over the frame; hopefully it fits like a glove after a bit more pinning.

Below is a close-up of the lovely streetly stitch used to attach the fabric to the top and bottom rings, comes naturally now!:

Preparing to stitch the tassel trim to the bottom ring, on a lovely sunny day in the garden (you can see the hand-made flip over bias strip I had already sewn onto the top ring):

And finally:

Drum roll please…. the finished lampshade, phew!:

I love it, really pleased with the final result. I may have to decorate a room around it though and still have to paint the base but I think sanding and painting will be a doddle compared to all the pinning and hand-stitching! The good news is I now have my first paid commission through an Interior Designer for a hand-stitched empire lampshade like this. I know what I’ll be doing next week… more details to follow…

Streetly stitch? Never heard of it!…

February 21, 2012February 8, 2025 Julie Gardner2 Comments

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!