How to Make a Chandelier With Fabric
Chandeliers add drama and elegance to interior decor. If you're looking for a do-it-yourself chandelier project that mixes casual with elegant and whimsical or even rustic, make your own fabric chandelier. Experiment with designs and materials beforehand, drawing them out on paper and keeping a bulletin board where you pin fabric and color samples for less headache when purchasing supplies and building your chandelier.
Things You'll Need
- 2-3 small, medium and large embroidery/macrame hoops
- Low-gauge wire/coat hanger wire
- Fishing line/hemp/rope
- Ribbon and fabric strips
- Glue gun/fabric tape
- Appliques/embellishments (optional)
Instructions
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1
Measure the diameter of your smaller embroidery or macrame hoop(s). Cut two pieces of coat hanger wire that length for each hoop, so if you have three hoops total, you'll cut four pieces of coat hanger to fit the diameters of the two smaller hoops.
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2
Place the coat hanger pieces on each hoop in a cross-hair pattern, perpendicular to one another, wrapping both ends tightly around the hoop with pliers so the wire won't slide around. Be careful not to splinter or break the wood on an embroidery hoop.
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3
Cut four 1-inch pieces of low-gauge wire for each hoop, for a two-hoop chandelier, for instance, you'd have eight pieces total. Wrap each piece around the hoop to create a tiny wire circle, or loop, that sticks straight up from the hoop. You'll eventually string the chandelier support lines through these holes. Space the three loops evenly around the hoop's perimeter, in a triangular pattern. Do this for each hoop.
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4
Spray paint your hoop the desired color, or leave it as is for a shabby chic-style chandelier. Let the frame pieces dry completely before moving on.
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5
Tie pieces of fishing line, hemp or rope from the wire loops on one hoop to the wire loops on the hoop below, depending on what chandelier shape you'd like. Tying the string to the smallest hoop on top, then to the medium hoop in the middle and large hoop on the bottom, gives you a large pendant or bowl-shaped chandelier and doing the opposite creates a triangular, tapered shape. Create a diamond-shaped chandelier by tying a medium hoop on top, then a large hoop below and the smallest hoop on the bottom.
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6
Attach a chandelier hanger to the top hoop by tying a long ribbon or rope to one of the wire loops, then tying the other end to the loop directly across from this. Repeat this for the loops perpendicular to this ribbon, making sure the ribbon/rope measures the same length as the piece you just tied when you hold it up. Hang the chandelier frame, and make adjustments if it hangs crooked.
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Cut long strips of fabric and ribbon to cover your chandelier, making them long enough to reach the bottom hoop, flow past it, or shorter, depending on your design. Fold one end of a single strip over the top of the uppermost hoop, securing it with hot glue or fabric tape. Work around the hoop until it's covered with hanging fabric strips.
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Loop your fabric strips to the lowest hoop or let them hang loose depending on the look you'd like. Hang strips from the second and third hoop tiers or hang pieces only on the top two hoops, using the third hoop to secure the bottoms of the pieces to form loops. You need longer fabric strips if you're looping them.
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Apply any appliques or embellishments to your fabric strips, like paper flowers or birds, for instance.
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10
Tie the bottoms of the ribbon strips together if they're not looped or let them hang free.
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References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
