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Whether you call it hessian, jute, or burlap, this textured fabric is a true lampshade making gem and we're excited to unveil our New Hessian Fabric Collection, featuring 19 stunning colours!
Choose from our range of subtle neutrals, rich earthy hues, and vibrant pops of colour and bring both texture and sustainability to your handmade lampshades. Read on to learn professional tips for working with hessian, and to discover the beautiful shades in our NEW Hessian Fabric Collection.
What is Hessian?
Hessian is derived from vegetable fibres, usually the skin of the jute plant or sisal leaves. It’s renowned for its sustainable and biodegradable properties, and due to its robustness, it has been used for a wide range of purposes throughout history, such as sacking for packing dry goods, and in gardening for protecting plants.
Also known as burlap in the United States, and jute, it is normally considered rustic in appearance, yet due to the absorbency of its fibres, it is easy to dye and our NEW Hessian Fabric Collection reflects this.
Hessian Fabric and Lampshade Making
For lampshade making, using hessian can evoke different interiors design eras. For example a popular fabric in the 60s and 70s, it was often combined with chunky woven trimmings that were positioned at the top and bottom of Empire and tall conical lampshades. Similarly, natural hessian has rustic charm that lends itself to more rustic interiors and fits well with the recent trends for ‘natural interiors’.
Our New Coloured Hessian Collection
With 19 quality dyed hessians to choose from, all of which are ideal for lampshade making, explore our categories of colours below to find the prefect fit for your lampshade making style! Each hessian in the collection is 120cm wide, apart from the Natural which is slightly wider at 130cm and prices start at £5.14 per, with reductions in price the more you buy.
Hessian Brights
Vibrant and energetic, add a pop highly pigmented colour to your handmade lampshade, with our hot Pink, deep Purple, cool Azure or zesty citrus Lime, Orange and Tangerine hessian. All packing a punch they are perfect for bringing plenty of personality to your space.
Hessian Earthy Tones
Reflecting the rich colours of nature through the seasons; the deep Claret and slightly brighter Ruby, alongside the intense Chocolate and Olive are reminiscent of autumn, whereas the glowing Saffron against the dark Forest green are summer gardens in fabrics! Warm and welcoming our earth toned hessians fit equally in minimalist and maximalist interiors.
Hesian Neutrals
Subtle and understated, our ‘true hessian neutrals’ - Parchment, Pearl and Natural – make the perfect partner for two toned handmade lampshades with a patterned fabric, yet are impactful enough to create a beautiful stand-alone textured lampshade, for cosy and calm interiors. The darker neutrals – Navy, Steel and Black - have a rich pigment and work well with our Stick It® Clear Self-Adhesive Lampshade PVC.
Laminated Hessian
Beginner or professional maker, if you prefer us to handle the lamination of your hessian to our Stick It® Lampshade PVC, you can buy any of our 19 Hessian Fabric Colours pre laminated to either our Standard or Clear Stick It® Lampshade PVC, by the metre.
When using darker Hessians, such as the Black, Chocolate, Navy and Steel, due to the slightly open weave of the hessian, combined with the brightness of the bulb, the glow of our Stick It® White Self Adhesive Lampshade Making PVC may shine through, but a straightforward way to avoid this is to use or buy pre-laminated our Stick It® Clear Self Adhesive Lampshade PVC, which has a translucent finish.
Hessian Lampshade Making Inspiration
Here's our ideas on how you can put our Hessian Fabric Collection to use in your lampshade making.
Plain Hessian Lampshade
In our new Hessian Fabric Collection there is a colour to suit every home, whichever palette you choose from. Due to the dye quality, our colours pack a punch, meaning they can be used for plain lampshades, in a variety of shapes, styles and sizes.
Colour Blocked Hessian Lampshade
Combined your favourite hessian coloured fabric with your favourite plain fabric to create a colour blocked lampshade, with a trim splitting the fabrics in the centre. Alternatively, if you have a patterned fabric you love, cut to cover two thirds of your lampshade, and pick a complimentary hessian for the remaining third, then add a trim to define the split between the two.
Our Lampshade Self Adhesive Textile Tape which measures 19mm wide, is ideal for creating a defined separation. Available in 35 colours, its easy to apply due its high tack adhesive backing.
Adding Trim
Whether you position this at the top, bottom or middle of your lampshade, trimmings can offset beautiful the texture and colour of your hessian. For a rustic look, pick from our range of Linen Top Stitched Trims, or alternatively choose and chunky trim for a retro vibe.
To create an air of elegance, try our Decorative Metallic Contoured Profile Trimming, which would work beautifully with the neutral Pearl and Parchment Hessian Fabric, and either the gold or silver will offset the Navy, Azure and Claret colourways.
Bias Binding Edge
To elevate your Hessian lampshade, adding a bias binding edge creates a focal point, especially if you choose a pop of colour! Simply apply the bias binding to the shade using our easy step-by-step blog tutorial. We’d recommend using a 25mm bias binding or wider, to ensure you have enough width to accommodate the thickness of the hessian fabric.
Tips for making Hessian Lampshades
As a natural woven fibre, Hessian does a have a tendency to fray and for this reason we recommend using a Folded Fabric Seam Edge when using it to make a lampshade. By adding these simple additional steps into your Lampshade Making Kit instructions, fraying will be reduced as well as giving you a neat, professional finish for your lampshade.
Other tips on how to manage fraying come from regular contributors to our Lampshade Makers Facebook Group.
Sharon McCready, of Severn Shades recommends using PVA glue to stop fraying:
Due to the incredible fraying ability of the hessian, I stuck the PVC down then painted PVA all the way round each one and left it for 24 hours. Then they cut out beautifully without a fray insight. The tucking in was the hardest part as the PVA made the Hessian quite stiff, therefore I will water down next time as the Hessian doesn't water stain.
Jane Warren, author of The Complete Guide to Making Lampshades says:
I use fray stop to keep the hessian strands together! I prefer hessian on clear laminate if you’re making a hard shade otherwise you see the white showing through when lit.
Watch our Vimeo video below to find out how to use Fray Stop.
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