Instructions for Recovering a Fabric Lampshade

Update your decor by recovering a lampshade.

Giving new life to a room can be accomplished inexpensively by making over items that you already own. Recovering a fabric lampshade can be done on an existing fabric lampshade or a shade you have picked up second-hand at a thrift store or neighborhood tag sale. Choosing a small amount of fabric to update a lampshade will add the pop of color and decor style enhancement to turn something old into a beautiful accessory.

Things You'll Need

• Lampshade
• Scissors
• Wrapping paper
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Decorative fabric, amount determined by size of lampshade
• Fusible interfacing, amount determined by size of lampshade
• Straight pins
• Iron
• Spray adhesive
• Craft glue
• Clothespins
• Decorative trim, amount determined by size of lampshade

Instructions

1. Cut away and remove the old fabric or decorative covering on the outside of the lampshade shell. This can usually be done with a few snips of your scissors and a tug. Note: If the fabric is glued directly on the surface of the shell and the surface is smooth, do not remove it. Attempting to remove it could damage the shell, which is the base of your lampshade.

2. Unroll wrapping paper on your work surface. Center the lampshade, on its side, on the wrapping paper. Slowly roll the lampshade in a complete rotation, as you mark the paper with a pencil at the top and bottom edge of the lampshade. Remove the lampshade. Draw a new line an inch outside of each pencil line to allow for fold over on your new cover. Add an inch to each short end of the shape for overlap. Cut out the shape. This is your lampshade pattern.

3. Pin the pattern to one layer of your decorative fabric and cut out. Pin the pattern to one layer of fusible interfacing and cut out.

4. Lay the fabric shape wrong side up on your ironing surface. Place the fusible interfacing on the fabric, with the glue side down and matching the edges. Iron the interfacing to adhere. This will give a sturdy body to your fabric.

5. Apply spray adhesive to the outside of the lampshade and the interfaced side of the fabric. Lay the fabric with the interfaced side up on your work surface. Center the side of the lampshade on the fabric with one short end lined up with the seam on the back of the lampshade. Roll the fabric onto the shade, smoothing the fabric flat with your hand. Apply a thin line of craft glue to the wrong side of the overlapping short fabric end and press to adhere. Use clothespins to hold the seam as it dries. The outside of the shade is now covered with a cylinder of fabric.

6. Cut 1/2-inch wide slits on the fabric overhang, at the top and bottom of the shade, from the raw edge of the fabric to the edge of the shade. Apply craft glue to the back of each slit and fold to the inside of the lampshade. Allow the glue to dry.

7. Apply a line of craft glue on the outside of the shade and just below the top. Place the end of decorative trim in the glue, starting at the back seam on the shade. Place the trim in the glue around the top of the shade. Cut the end of the trim a 1/2-inch past the seam. Apply glue to the wrong side of the 1/2-inch overlap and place over the beginning of the trim to connect the ends. Use clothespins to hold the trim in place as it dries.

8. Apply a thin line of craft glue on the outside of the shade and just above the bottom. Apply the decorative trim in the same way as the top of the shade.