How to Decorate a Lamp Shade With Silk Roses

A plain fabric lampshade can be decorated with silk roses.

Silk roses can provide a romantic and nostalgic decorative touch. They look lovely on many items in the home, but can be particularly effective on lampshades. A shade made from plain or subtly patterned fabric shows off the silk roses to good advantage. Silk roses can be purchased from haberdashery departments, but they are very easy to make yourself from silk ribbon. Fine silk ribbon can be used to embroider a dainty rose motif.

Things You'll Need

• Fabric lampshade
• Large needle
• Rose tool
• 1/8-inch or 1/4-inch silk ribbon
• 1/16-inch silk ribbon
• Fabric glue
• Pencil and paper

Instructions

1. Sketch your design onto paper to see how it looks. Once you are satisfied, copy the design very lightly onto the shade. You don't want the pencil marks to be visible when you are done, so mark lightly and consider using a tailor's pencil. You only need a general guide.

2. Tie a knot in one end of the 1/16-inch ribbon. Thread the other end onto the needle. Push the needle up through the shade from inside, pulling the ribbon gently taut. Lay the ribbon flat against the outside of the shade. About 6 millimeters from the hole where the ribbon comes out, push the needle back through the center of the ribbon and the shade. Pull gently taut, but not too tight. Repeat this stitch three times close together to suggest a rosebud, or make a circle of 5 stitches all originating at the same point for a full rose. This stitch is called ribbon stitch.

3. Take the rose tool (a special tool for making ribbon roses) and place the 1/8-inch or 1/4-inch ribbon through it so that 1/2 inch protrudes from one side of the rose tool. Apply the tiniest dot of glue to the end of the ribbon. Fold the ribbon tightly around the tool two or three times. Add another dot of glue at the base. This is the center of your rose.

4. Make a single fold in the ribbon. This should be a diagonal fold, a single twist in the ribbon. Continue winding, gently wrapping the folded part of the ribbon around the center. Add another spot of glue. Continue this process until you are happy with your rose, then remove carefully from the rose tool. Repeat until you have sufficient roses. Sew or glue your silk roses onto the lampshade.

Tips & Warnings

• By using the rose technique with a broader ribbon, you can make larger silk roses. The same ribbon stitch used to embroider roses and rosebuds can also be used to create leaves and other details.

References

• Cynthia Howe Miniatures: How to Make Ribbon Roses
• Threads: Beginners' Silk-Ribbon Embroidery: Five Easy Stitches

Resources

• The Artful Crafter: Ribbon Crafts