Happy New Year. It's time for a fresh start. I can barely read the Vermont Newspapers with all the Flood Irene Photos. Vermont has never been hit with a disaster like Irene. Many of my neighbors are both still waiting for major work on their properties. I was the lucky girl in the middle. How my cute little shop wasn't knocked off it's foundation I'll never know BUT thank goodness. A hellish fall for sure.
Time for so new ideas for kicking off the year. I just picked up this delightful, sweet English embroidery. It's a square tablecloth that called out to keep the pretty flowers together without getting chopped up by panels. The biggest drum shade I could fit across the width of the fabric was only 9 inches. So be it and I went with it. These are 9" x 9" x 9" with a washer top. Dresser scarves would be the perfect length for a drum shade, but usually all the good stuff, ie. embroidery is on the ends... so that doesn't work so great.
detail of embroidery. oooh, look at the purples, oranges. I always admire the handiwork of the ladies of the UK. Why, why do they do it so much better than here in the States??? The whip must have been cracked in their early days when they slipped up.
Now to figure out how the heck to trim these babies.... I put these together at the end of the day yesterday. There was lots of thread trimming on the backside of the linen. What a mess with threads everywhere that needed to be snipped. I'll leave them close by to ruminate on their trimming...
And another pair put together yesterday. These still need trimming also. I guess I have the hard work for today. Also squeaked out an uno hex bell with this same embroidery.
Here's a new shape from The Lamp Shop. Not sure if it was a test frame or one they are introducing, but I got a sample from them and love it. It's a clip and think it might be popular. Doesn't hurt that this shade is made from a beauty of a antique French Knotted tablecloth and trimmed with a scrap of handsome blue Vintage Fabric.
Visit my Lake's Lampshades Face Book page and hit the "LIKE" button if you get a chance. When I'm out straight crazy and the blog is being neglected I do manage to post a few current shades on the Lake's Lampshades page. It's growing on me.... Post a photo of one of your lampshades. I'd love to see what YOU are making.
Best Wishes for a new Year!
xo
judy
Dear Judy,
When you say you trim the threads at the back, do you mean you cut away all of the threads (including anchoring knots etc) on the back of the embroidery? I can see how this would make the embroidery look better when the lamp is lit, but what on earth stops the embroidery from just falling apart? The styrene?
Posted by: Jaime Nakahara | 03/02/2013 at 10:13 PM
Hi Jamie,
Yes, cut back the carries as they will show. You do have to be careful not to pull them out; they usually are okay. What is the hardest is not to cut through the fabric. And yes, the styrene holds it all together. Super handy stuff.
Posted by: judy lake | 03/25/2013 at 11:15 AM