The Lampshade Lady Blog

How to Hang a Drum Shade or Pendant Shade

At long last I have solved the pendant drum shade hanging problem. This is the perfect set up! So happy to have gotten some into the shop,because I know so many of you have asked this question. How to hang a drum shade???? This does have to be hard wired into your ceiling, but if you already have a fixture installed it would not be too big a deal to switch them out. The best part is that a standard washer top shade will work with this fixture. It is such a smart design. Great looking,too.
The fixture comes with one light, two lights or 3 lights. The more light bulbs = a larger shade. They recommend a 19" shade with the 3 light set up. The single square frame in the first picture is 8" high and 8" across the bottom.
This is such a great set up. I had a hard time visualizing this until I saw it. To install a shade turn the screw where my hand is and set the lampshade in place and screw the bolt back in! Easy, Easy!

These come in Brushed Nickel (shown), Oil Rubbed Bronze, Antique Brass and Satin Black. To order, give me a call at the shop. 802-325-6308

My Valentines Day : DIY How to-Wicked Cool Drum Shade

Valentine's Day Project: Make new cheerful shade for over my desk!

That sounds easy enough. Right? Some projects sound so easy, but pull your hair out every step of the way. What size to do. I settled on a 13 x 13 x 11 Drum Shade. I usually don't do quite so deep a drum shade, but the pattern on this fabric worked best this way. After cutting my pattern of styrene out..... I realized I didn't have the 13" washer top... so it became a 12" x 12" x 11" high.
Iron fabric. Love this fabric. It's a Japanese fabric designed by Etsuko Furuya. I've seen it all over the web, I got mine at, Alewives Fabrics in Maine. They have a beautiful site that's easy to use. Check them out. 
Cut styrene and laminate to fabric. Sounds easy, but opps I cut the fabric the wrong way. This fabric has birds and yupp, they were sideways when I cut the fabric... try again. Good thing I didn't make a big shade; this fabric is not super wide and the design goes across the fabric.
This is how I cut the pattern. I am planning on using a hanging trim on the bottom and use a grosgrain ribbon, too. On the bottom I cut the fabric flush to the end of the styrene. On the top, I plan on wrapping the fabric around the top wire; I have left about 3/4" of fabric. On one end I cut the fabric flush to the styene and the other I left 1/4" to glue to inside of shade for clean edge.
Adding glue to the end.
Folding fabric on end to inside of styrene.

I like to start gluing the top first. It allows me to hold on to the middle of the wire washer top and walk it along the edge.
You can see the top fabric that will glue and wrap to the inside of the shade.
And another sort of boo boo... hum, look how the fabrics came together in the back. drats. Repeat of pattern. I used a contrasting self trim on the seam to break it up. To make lampshades is often being a problem solver.... It drives me slightly crazy how this worked out, but it will have to do. It is what it is....
Adding the grosgrain on the bottom.
Inside of shade. I used a 3/8" grosgrain on the inside seam, not necessary, but it looks more professional.

I also used a soutache on the inside top. I added this after I had folded the fabric to the inside of shade. It too is not necessary, but is a nice finish.
Last I added the bottom trim. And..... of course there was a hang up there, too. As I was gluing the trim on, I noticed as I got to the end there was one without the little turquoise ball....wouldn't you know it. To save the day, I cut the end on a diagonal and glued it down and then started another piece and overlapped just a little. You can hardly notice it...

Some days go smooth and others............the lampshade lady just might be saying the f word.....( I always threaten that will be my next book, ha! much to my mother's horrors) (and I can hear Shirley laughing, Shirley is a very fine seamstress and designer that occasionally might use those words:))

On that note: here's my belated Valentine.
Happy Belated Valentine's Day!!!

xoxo,

judy

Lampshade Lady's Much Promised Drum Lampshade Instructions

 

I've been trying to get this post out for a month. I will be sharing some of my drum shade techniques and variations. I am self taught... for better or worse. It's one of those things that you "just figure it out"! I encourage you to experiment and come up with your own techniques and feel free to share them here in my comments at the end of the blog post. I love new suggestions; it's possible to teach an old dog new tricks, sometimes. I will be showing you several ways to finish the drum shade.

As you will see, this post has a lot of info and is a little scattered as there are 3 variations on trimming a drum shade. I think you will get the idea of the many possibliities for trimming; which in the end make the shade!  My Lampshade Lady Book will have more information for the beginner. The instructions here are for folks that have been already been making shades and not to sell my book... but I'd suggest picking it up if you are a beginner- there are so many little details and sources for supplies as they are hard to find in a bricks and mortar store. The trim technique often depends of the weight of fabric and desired finished "look" of shade. I'm sure you have seen drum shades that wrap right around the wire with no decorative finishing as well as shades with a self-trim.

This shade above is made of vintage feedsack cotton and trimmed with a new quilting fabric. I love to mix the new with the old to come up with a fresh clean look. Sometimes it works and sometimes I miss. And sometimes I am designing for me and my house and at others I am designing for my clients that tend to be more conservative here in Southern Vermont. 

1. Iron fabric and place upside down on table.

2. Cut out styrene in a rectangle for the size of shade. Figure out size of shade you would like to make. Many of these shown on this post are 14 inches across the top and bottom and 9 inches high. So I made a rectangle that was 9 inches high x circumference of shade ( 14" x 3.14=43.96 inches plus 1 inch for back seam overlap, TOTAL length 45 inches by 9 inches high. It is easy to make the size that you need by adjusting the rectangle size.

3. Peel paper backing off pressure sensitive styrene and place on back of ironed fabric. Hand press to smooth. If there are any wrinkles, lift fabric and reapply.

 
4. To make drum shade with a self trim, cut as in photo above. If the fabric is light weight, it is nice to fold and glue 1/2" of fabric  on end to inside to make a smooth back edge. See above. I will add glue to this flap and fold to inside of shade.

 

see above, adding glue and folding. Rest of edges are cut out flush to styrene. To make a shade w/o self-trims you would cut the top and bottom with an extra 1/2"  of fabric beyond the styrene, set in wires on edge of styrene and wrap fabric around wires and glue to inside of shade.. See photo below for a shade w/o self trims, fabric is wrapped around the top and bottom wire. This makes a clean, contemporary look.

5. To add top washer wire to shade: Run row of glue along the edge of the top of the shade. Start adding clothespins to hold in place. Walk the wire along the edge of the shade. Continue till end and over lap.
close up detail.
6. To add bottom wire, turn shade upside down and set bottom wire in place. I like to start at the middle and work my way around to the back seam. Add clothespins to hold in place. Make sure wire is RIGHT to the edge of the styrene. It is so EASY TO SCREW UP....and make it slightly off center.... believe me....After setting in place you can go back and readjust placement. It is also helpful to use the middle of the clothespins instead of the edges. Some people like to use the bull dog clips The Lampshop uses. I've never tried, but go for it.
7. Here is the back seam of my green shade. Flip back the seam and use a couple of rows of glue. You can see where the finished edge was folded back. Press onto shade. I like to press the seam from the inside of the shade onto a hard table. If any glue oozes out, pick up with nail or other utensil. I usually go over it again with some hand pressure. As the quick glue dries it gets tacky and makes a nice seal.

8.Here is a self-trim for the purple shade.... a vintage feed sack fabric. It's the perfect weight for making trims. Soft and easy to work with. To make self-trims: Use quick glue (all materials available at The Lampshop  in Concord, NH) , order a roll of 5/16" of pressure sensitive cloth tap, aka BIAS TRIM FOLD BACKER. Choose fabric you will be using for trim. Fabric choice is key here. A really heavy fabric will be too bulky, synthetic fabric won't stick, light to mid weight cotton or linen work best. Cut 2 strips of the pressure sensitive cloth tape (also known of Bias trim fold back) the length of the circumference of shade plus a little extra.

9. Place cloth tape onto backside of fabric. Cut out leaving 1/3" on either side and flush on the ends. Run a couple of beads of glue on fabric and fold back onto the tape. Hand press. Next the instructions divert.... sorry, another option. You can either use a grosgrain first and then add the self-trim OR you can not use a grosgrain and just use this self-trim- see next photo.
10. Ok, here I am trimming the shade w/o the grosgrain. I'm gluing the self trim onto the shade. The finished edge is here and the unfinished is wrapped around to the inside of the shade. I like using this technique. I tried it first one time when none of the grosgrain colors matched my fabric. I think it looks pretty cool. Sometimes it is hard to make the inside look tidy. I sometimes will add a trim to the inside to clean up the rough edges.
10. A little trick of the trade.... at times when making trims the fabric will not be long enough. So, I make my trims and splice them together overlapping just a smidgen and continue gluing trim onto shade. See below photo for example.
11. Adding glue to inside of shade. Fold inside and tuck up under wire. You may need to make a little snip at wire. 
Here is a close up of another shade with a self-trim w/o using grosgrain. It is a vintage cotton trim with a Japanese Rayon print. The rayon actually laminated really well; it was super textured and made a great seal w/ styrene. Really shinny fabrics do not laminate well.
Here is the inside of the last shade.
Here is the finished inside of the green dot shade. I added a fun dot trim to tidy up the edge. You can see I also did it on the vintage fabric shade below.

 
If finishing shade WITH GROSGRAIN,  Cut 2 strips of 5/8 inch grosgrain..... another variable. Cut the same length as the self-trims. Half the grosgrain will set onto the face of the shade and the rest will glue inside shade. Use clothes pins to hold as it glues. I usually use only 2 here and move them along as I add the grosgrain.

You can see I've used several shades here. I made several shades last week using all of the trims techniques I am showing here.... .
8. Add glue to a few inches of the backside of self-trim. Continue till they meet. I like to cut the ends on the diagonal and over lap 1/8" or so. Make self-trims as shown before; this time both edges will be glued to the back side of cloth tape.
 Add self-trim onto grosgrain by gluing a few inches at a time. Continue till end and over lap a tad. 
Voila! The fabric is Susan Sargent fabric. I love how this one lights up!!!!
And this one is finished, too!
Another Susan Sargent Fabric, oh how I will miss them!

To finish up this post I'd say have fun, experiment, find cool fabrics to use. Drum shades are easy once you get the basics down. And it is easy to have them come out off centered!!! So watch for that. Have your electrician hard wire the shade for a pendant in the kitchen, office or dinning room. They are great hanging and a heck of a lot less expensive than a fancy chandelier, especially if you made it your self.

Note on diffusers: I personally dislike them..... so google them online and you'll find out lots of info. I'd personally rather get used to the light bulb than see the plasticy round disk. I think you'll find sources online.

Instructions For Making Funky Drum Shades

I just made a cool shape, so we can use this one as our guide. (The size in this picture is much smaller, a 12" top x 12 bottom x 8" high.) You can make any size you need for your needs. I would suggest to start small, but if you are like me, you won't!!!!

It was 18” across the top x 9 ½ “ high x 18” across the bottom.

Materials:
18” washer top
18” bottom ring
2 yds of styrene
4yds of grosgrain ribbon
10” of 3/8”white grosgrain
4 yds of cloth pressure sensitive tape 3/8” to make self-trims or trim of equal length
2 yds of fabric, you want to make sure what you choose will laminate well. This is a big shade and some inexpensive fabrics could drive you crazy trying to laminate.
Quick glue and squeeze bottle
Scissors
Yardstick and tape measure



Directions:

1.) To cut styrene for shade: Lay styrene on floor or a big worktable with the paper side up. You will need the yard stick now, start at the edge and make a straight line the full length of the shade plus one inch, which is 58” total.
2.) Measuring from that straight edge, make marks at 9 ½” for the height of the shade. Make measure marks the whole distance and connect the dots. Square off the ends and cut out.
3.) Iron fabric and place the backside of the fabric facing up. Pull the paper backing off of the styrene and laminate to fabric. Hand-press. DO NOT GET IRON NEAR STYRENE!!!!
4.) Cut out fabric right along the edge of the styrene. Hand-press.
5.) Place bead of glue along the top edge of the backside of the styrene/fabric. Go the whole length of the styrene. Use a medium amount of glue.
6.) Set the washer top in place on the edge of the shade where you have just placed the glue. You will start it at the edge of the styrene and work your way right around the shade, clipping it in place with the clothespins. When you get to the overlap, add glue to finish. Adjust any unruly pins!!! You’ll get a few. Don't worry, it won't dry that fast.Watch out for glue- all my clothes are gluey.
7.) Turn shade over and clip the bottom wire in place. Run a bead of glue up along the inside of the shade where the wire and styrene meet. Don’t worry about the pins, go around them, it is enough glue.
8.) To glue the back seam, pull the edge back and run a couple beads of glue along the inside seam. Watch out for messy glue on fabric. Hand-press by running fingers along the inside seam while shade is on your workspace.
There is something called a back seam clamp. You can use this at this time. For the drum shades it’s not really necessary, but it is very helpful for shades with more torque on that back seam.
9.) Let shade dry. Make self-trims while you are waiting. Use grosgrain ribbon to measure for making self-trims. Use the 3/8" pressure sensitive cloth tape for trims. Place on backside of fabric and cut out leaving 1/4"on either side of tape, trim flush on ends.
10.) Fold and glue fabric onto cloth tape, one side at a time. Hand press to make nice smooth edges. Put these aside while you glue grosgrain onto top and bottom of shade. To glue grosgrain onto shade, start at back seam and do a few inches at a time. Run bead of glue along the first few inches of bottom of shade, place ribbon on glue and continue to end;. You may like using the clothes pins to hold in place; it will dry fast. Then you will be folding grosgrain over bottom wire and gluing to inside of shade. Make sure to use enough glue.
11.) Glue self trims to top and bottom over grosgrain. Yay! Your done. There are zillions of other ways to trim these shades. You could also wrap the shade fabric around top and bottom wires, this can get messy this way. You can make self-trims and use that instead of grosgrain.

Have fun and stay posted, I hope this helps you get started. Maybe my son, the video master will help with a dvd!!!! That would make it easier. May 2008 bring us all good luck!