Reviving a Vintage Lampshade

Mary Insana
by Mary Insana
2 Materials
Easy
Quick and easy way to bring a lampshade back to life using a full flat t-shirt fabric flat sheet.
I had a vintage floor lamp that had belonged to my mother in law. The very old silk shade had seen its better days. The lining was torn and pulling away from the frame. I started by removing the old fabric from the frame. I had a old tee shirt fabric top sheet that was waiting to be used for something. I evenly folded the sheet over a couple times and cut strips approximately 2 inches wide. Don't worry about making the strips exactly straight. Once you pull them it won't matter.You can make them wider or thinner depending of the outcome you want.


After cutting the strips I pulled them taunt and stretched them into what will look like yarn.
I tied a loose knot to one of the vertical pieces of the lampshade frame and started to wrap the fabric around the shade pulling slightly to keep it in place.
After I had the whole shade covered vertically with the fabric I began weaving pieces of the fabric around the shade. I left about a 1 inch piece of fabric loose in the back of the shade. When I reached that place I tacked the ends of the pieces together with a similar shade of thread.
This is the finished lampshade. You can weave as many or as little amount of rows as you want. You can also use different colors all mixed up. This would be a great project to use old t shirts cut into strips. You can also find this style of sheet at thrift shops for very little. If you want an certain color you can also buy a new sheet in this fabric for very little at Walmart.


This type of fabric is also available by the yard at most fabric stores.


You can search on-line as to easy way to cut t shirts into one continuous strip.
Suggested materials:
  • Full flat T shirt fabric sheet
  • Lampshade frame
Frequently asked questions
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3 of 4 questions
  • Kim Adams Kim Adams on May 15, 2016
    Great. Did you have to purchase a sheet or did you already have one? If you purchased, what was the cost?
  • Dee B Dee B on May 17, 2016
    What is the actual height and diameter of this shade . How much fabric did you need to complete this?
  • Acc8140266 Acc8140266 on Jul 10, 2016
    My question does the shirt start on fire when it gets hot ? Just asking
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