Does anyone know where I can buy sheets of laminate to stiffen fabric for making lampshades, I'm assuming it's a laminate but could be wrong. Any thoughts please?
Fred Aldous, possibly. I haven't heard of a laminate, all I've read about it suggests a thin card. I've successfully used buckram in the past, the sort that comes in a wide roll, not the heading stuff. And no, I haven't the foggiest where you can get that, since the Singer shop in Aberdeen closed down twenty years ago. Sorry, not very helpful. Bluebell's the lampshade wizard, isn't she?
we used selopar at college when we made stiffened lampshades. its a little fiddly, like a large sheet of sticky back plastic!! we ordered from a lampshade shop who also sold new wire frames. gave a very good finish.
I've made a lampshade! Bought the necessary fabric laminate from Fred Aldous and made my first sample.. This will now be another item I will offer using designer fabric remnants..
Fred Aldous is brilliant, I love it. It's the only place I've found seagrass, just need to order some and remember how to use it, and I'll have another footstool to put piles of stuff on. An oblong oak one, found on the street. Students throw away amazing stuff, my neighbour has a G-plan coffee table that had been put out for the dustman.
They look great - was it easy? What did you use to glue the stiffened fabric to the frame? Did you get the frames from the same place as the stiffener?
Hope you had a nice holiday and welcome back. Those shades are absoluely fabulous I'd love to be able to make one. Any chance of you filming yourself when you make your next one Do they work out expensive
Making the shades was extremely straight forward actually and not at all expensive. The drum shade cost around £4.50 to make plus the fabric and took around an hour. The cone shaped shade was recycled from a frame I bought for 99p in a charity shop. I wrapped double sided tape around the utility ring and rolled the ring like a wheel, picking up the shade fabric as I went. You then tuck the excess fabric at the top and bottom under the ring and it's a simple as that!
Custom made drum shades are being sold on ebay in designer fabrics for up to £35 each! Another use for those remnants we all have kicking around.
A new site has come online with a good selection of lampshade making materials (I'm sure it wasn't here a few weeks ago when Schuhby first asked about the stiffener for shades.......?) needcraft
They have various stiffeners, glues, sticky tapes, trims and shade rings in the online shop.
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