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!)
