I really should be sleeping....: Lampshade Revamp {tutorial}

Yesterday I decided I wanted to change out the light in my laundry room. I'm in the middle of an almost total overhaul in that room, so why not the light too? (It helps that my Brother-in-Law is here visiting and he is an electrician.)

This is what I started with...

I like the after much better! ;) I was inspired by a shade I found and posted here.

Supplies:

Wire shade or frame

Fabric

How to:

First I had to reinforce the shade frame, which I picked up for $1 at antique/junk store. I knew I was either going to fabric wrap the entire frame or fabric tie it. Either way there were not enough wire supports and it would end up looking like a weird square shade, so I decided to add some more joints. I happen to have 14 gauge wire leftover (who doesn't, right?) from my Christmas bulb wreath project and mason jar lanterns, so I cut 4 lengths 2 inches taller than the shade. I wrapped them around the top and bottom wires.

This is what some of my "joints" look like. I knew they were going to be wrapped in fabric, so I wasn't too worried about how they looked. (This little project has me wondering what I could do with a soldering tool....hmmm, add that to the Christmas list?)

Here it is after my alterations.

From here I only have the after pictures as the whole thing happened too fast I forgot to take pics.

I had white eyelet fabric left over from a project 6 years ago (yes, I said SIX years!) and thought it was time to use it up. I took two long strips of fabric and cut them 1 1/2" wide and just wrapped it around the top and bottom circular parts of the frame (not the vertical). (A sheet would be great for this.) I almost stopped there and did that to the whole frame, but I have another wire shade I'll try that with. :) You can see the bottom of the frame wrapped below.

Then I cut A LOT of 1 1/2" strips about 14" long. Measure the length in between your joints and add a few inches. It might take a little experimenting to get the right length.

Start tying. And tying. And tying. Put a good movie in and tie some more. I tied a knot around one wire, then strung it across and tied another knot around the next one and trimmed the end off. With my next strip, I tied a knot just below the knot I just finished, strung it across and tied on the next wire. Working my way around back to the first and then kept going around and around, stopping to shove them snug against the top.

After a few rounds I was kinda worried about what it was going to look like, but I kept going. I figure if I hated it, I could cut it apart and I was only out some scrap fabric.

Many rounds later, here ya go...

I had my BIL remove the fixture that was there. I don't have a before pic, but trust me....it was random for a laundry room, and dark. We actually had to retrofit a pendant fixture. I bought a new ceiling cap (because that one that came with it was really ~~ugly~~ plain.) I would love to run you through how to hang a fixture, but since I am not an electrician I would hate to mess up directions. This shade can be used on a lamp as well.

I even like how the inside looks, which is good because we have tall ceilings and the door opens up under the fixture so it has to be hung rather high.