5 DIY Lampshade Projects You Can Do This Weekend

By Julia Mitchem

If an old lamp needs a makeover, creating a DIY lampshade is the quickest way to make it stand out with personal flair. “Have fun, keep it light, use what you have, and let yourself explore with color,” says Cara Gregor, owner of Cara Emilia in Sacramento, who doesn’t always want to buy another shade. “I work with what I have and just kinda see how it goes. Sometimes it works out perfectly!”

Your DIY lampshade can be as simple or as elaborate as your creative talents allow. You can start off with a preexisting lampshade or grab a new frame. The rest is up to you, whether you line the frame with fancy fabric, add jewels and fringe, or put your embroidery skills to good use. More often than not, you can find unique DIY lampshade accoutrements in thrift stores and on Amazon. Here, five bright ideas to teach you how to make a lampshade and give your lamp a new lease on life.

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For those obsessed with all things vintage and eccentric, Ivy Karlsgodt of Ace of Shades in Brooklyn knows that a DIY lampshade is a perfect remedy. You can tailor it to any color scheme, space, or interior design style. “I like to use a layer or two of silk charmeuse as my base, and then add things like lace, velvet burnouts, and appliqués,” she says. “You can even reuse the fabric from unwearable vintage garments!” See how these gorgeous vintage-styled lampshades can mesmerize even the simplest of interiors.

To make a vintage shade, you’ll need:

Begin by spraying Rust-Oleum on the frame. Let dry. Wrap the cotton twill tape around all panels of the lampshade. Karlsgodt recommends wrapping the loose ends around the joints and securing them with a whip stitch. “This is what you’ll pin and stitch through,” she says.

Cut rectangular pieces of the fabric to be at least half an inch wider than the width and length of the lampshade’s panels. Pin the fabric by its four corners and add pins in between. She recommends stretching the fabric with one hand as you go until you have a pin every one inch or so, all the way around. “If you’re using something like a lace or velvet burnout layered over a solid fabric, you can pin these on together or sew the layers on separately,” Karlsgodt says. She emphasizes keeping the fabric on grain from top to bottom and side to side.

Using a whip stitch, sew the fabric onto the frame through the twill tape (not all the way around the wire). The stitches should be about 1/4-inch to 3/8-inch long.

Cut off the excess fabric as close as you can to the panel without cutting the stitches. “Use double curved appliqué scissors for this,” she says. “Don’t worry about fraying—the gimp braid will seal this.” Repeat sewing and cutting on every panel until you finish the frame.

Stitch on appliqués, netting, or any other details to make the shade your own. Glue on the fringe using fabric glue. Karlsgodt recommends going slowly and only gluing on a little at a time. “You can attach the fringe to the outside or inside of the frame,” she says. “I usually attach it to the outside as long as my gimp braid is wide enough to cover the stitching at the top of the fringe. Pro tip: use pin-curl clips to hold the fringe on while it dries.”

Glue on the braid trim to all of the visible stitching. “Any visible seams in the braid should be cut exactly to line up with each other and joined with a dot of glue to appear continuous,” Karlsgodt says. “Go slowly and take care not to get any excess glue on your fabric panels.”

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Gregor’s colorful embroidery shade is the perfect DIY that adds a bevy of vibrancy to your home. “The best way to source your thread is at thrift stores, garage sales, and from old cross-stitching kits,” she says. “You can have varied amounts of each color and you will get more color variety from kits than from a mixed pack of embroidery threads.”

To make an embroidery shade, you’ll need:

Wrap the thread around the lampshade frame, keeping it tight. “You don’t want the thread to wrinkle or curl but you also want to maintain the integrity of the frame,” Gregor says.

Tie off the thread on the inside of the shade when you feel like you have a thick enough stripe of color.

Start a new color and keep going until you finish the shade. “I love mixing the old with the new, and I love bringing pops of color into my home,” Gregor says.

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Looking for a cozy style with a dose of natural texture? Valeria Jacobs of @rebeccaandgenevieve in Concord, California, can show you how to make an intricate raffia lampshade without getting tangled up. “I wanted to incorporate more natural textures in our living room, and after a quick inspiration browse on Pinterest I found a raffia lampshade that sparked the idea to create my own,” Jacobs says. “The warm lamp glow is so beautiful! Highly recommend it.”

To make a raffia shade, you’ll need:

Glue each strand of raffia, one at a time, onto the top and bottom of the lampshade. Cut the excess.

Repeat the first step and fill the spaces where the lampshade is still visible. “This project is best for smaller lampshades because it is time-consuming,” Jacobs says. “It could be beautiful on a pair of sconces.”

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Turn treasured memories into the focal point of your space. Cece Cvercko of BLNK Studios in Daytona Beach, Florida, created a fun slide film lampshade for a sentimental and savvy crafter. “If you want to make a movie-themed shade, start by looking up lots of movie stills slides on eBay and Etsy,” she says. “My theme is Florida in the ’70s—all very amateur shots of Florida taken during somebody’s vacation,” she says. “If you have old family photos, that is also a great, personal theme.”

To make a photo slide shade, you’ll need:

Select your slides. If you use family slides, be sure they aren’t important because there is no going back. Digitize anything vital before you start on this DIY lampshade. ”Punch a hole on all four sides of the film slides. “Try not to get too close to the edge of the side that it rips but close enough to attach the tiny ring between two slides,” Cvercko says. Do not punch a hole on the bottom of the last row of slides.

Cvercko recommends putting one row of slides around the frame so you know how many slides of film around the lampshade you need. Attach the slides by linking them with the frame through the top hole with jump rings. After you determine how many you need, create a large sheet of slides to attach all at once.

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Link each slide together by the holes on the left and right—creating a chain of slides. Start the next row through the bottom hole. Make sure the direction and orientation of the slides makes sense so when the bulb light shows through the photos are visible the right way. “Be sure to have a lamp base ready because once you start getting length on the shade, it gets harder to set it down without a stand,” Cvercko says.

Once you finish the sheet, attach the bottom ring of the shade frame for extra support or leave the last row loose. Cvercko warns that photo slides fade in the sun—and punching holes in the frame is already a destructive process—so do not position the shade in direct sunlight. “The lamp light shouldn’t have much long-term fading as long as the bulb is low heat and not on 24/7,” she says.

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This DIY crochet lamp is perfect for a bold crafter because it’s a completely different look than any other traditional pieces.

“I get a lot of inspiration from traveling and visiting new places,” says Apeldoorn, Netherlands-based Dorien van den Bosch Bekkers. “One of my favorite places to go is Marrakesh. The colors, people, beautiful doors, dresses, palm trees, smell, food, souks, and light is so special and magical. These lamps remind me of all this!”

To make a crochet lampshade, you’ll need:

Crochet the bottom ring by working single crochet stitches around it. Work your way up. “Increase and decrease the number of stitches to get a nice shape in your lamp,” Bekkers says.

Create the stripe effect by changing colors every four rows. Keep adding stripes and metal rings until you reach the desired length. “Pull out and redo the parts you’re not happy with,” Bekkers says. “But remember [that] little mistakes are what make handmade products unique. Have fun creating and using color. It brightens up your life!”

Finish the design by attaching three bands to hang the lamp. Add a pendant light bulb, if you’d like to use a bulb. If not, use it as a decorative hanging piece.