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If you're looking for a true 'centre piece' shade, Marliese Richmond of Three Bears Prints might just have the answer.
In the second of our series of lampshade collaborations, Marliese took on the challenge of making one of our largest shades. By using 70 cm diameter rings and our Fabric Printing Service she created bespoke fabric featuring the fantastic parakeets.
To add extra drama, Marliese also used Dannells Stick-It ® Silver Brushed Self-Adhesive Lampshade PVC, to create of a silver shade interior. The combination of the shade size, interior and fabric design create a real wow factor!
When making up her large scale lampshade, Marliese knew it would be much easier with someone else to help her and she was very grateful for the assistance of her friend, Jess. It took them around two and a half hours to assemble the lampshade.
What you will need to make your Super Sized 70 cm shade
There are two options for the materials to make up a 70cm diameter lampshade dependent, on whether you'd like the addition of the Stick-It ® Silver Brushed interior.
To make a lampshade with the silver brushed interior:
Double sided tape (1x 6 metre roll of 9mm wide tape will be sufficient)
Stick-It ® Silver - Brushed - Self-Adhesive Lampshade PVC cut using our bespoke lampshade cutting service
To make a lampshade without the silver brushed interior:
How to make a Super sized 70 cm shade
1. First of all, I created a design for the super sized lampshade, using lino cuts of parakeets I had created. I knew that in terms of scale that these would work for such a large shade.
When using the Dannells Fabric Printing Service, I was able to use the templates provided to easily work out the size of the individual designs required. For this particular shade I used three repeats of my Parakeet lino cut, featured around the circumference of the lampshade.
I also took the precaution of allowing some space around the parakeets themselves just in case I rolled the lampshade slightly squint, featuring just the green background and cherry blossom element of the pattern. The final stage was to send this off to Dannells to be printed up.
2. The digitally printed lampshade fabric captures very fine detail, as the picture below shows.
3.Start out by flattening the PVC out with books. At this point you can see the silver brushed PVC clearly.
4. Next fold back the seal of the PVC, to ensure it will crack easily at a later stage.
5. Mark out in advance the position where the PVC should sit on the back of the printed fabric using pencil, to make sure the design is captured correctly.
6. Lay the PVC into position onto the back of the fabric, with the removable backing paper face down onto the fabric
7. If you have a helper work together to start to remove the backing paper. Take your time to make sure the PVC is precisely lined up with the markings made earlier.
8. Peel off the backing and stick the 'Stick It' PVC to the fabric. Regularly flip the fabric over to check it is sealed on smoothly, with no air bubbles.
9. Applying the PVC and removing the backing is much easier if there are two of you to work as a team :)
10. Once the PVC is attached, rub the fabric firmly to ensure it is well sealed.
11. Here you can see the fabric sealed onto the backing, prior to trimming.
12. For the next stage trim the excess fabric from around the PVC.
13. Along one of the short edges place a strip of double sided sticky tape to form the seam of the lampshade and then press this firmly into place.
14. Peel off the edges of the PVC gently, to reveal the back of the fabric underneath.
15. Stick the double sided sticky tape around the two large rings and once finished remove the backing tape (which is red) leaving the clear tape on the ring.
16. Working as a team (if you have a helper) stick the rings onto the edge of the PVC.
17. Together, roll one way to stick on rings, then the opposite direction. At this point it's best to take your time and match your progress, otherwise you risk making the lampshade go off course.
18. This photo shows Jess using her nails to tuck the fabric under the lampshade ring. At the same time make a small slit in the fabric with a craft knife at each lampshade strut.
19. Ease the fabric around each strut.
20. Pull the PVC taut as you reached the seam.
21. Where the PVC overlaps, stick down the seam by removing the backing from the double-sided tape that was stuck in place in step 14.
How to fit a lampshade diffuser
To make the shade look more attractive from below, a diffuser can be fitted. By covering the bulb and the struts and the opacity of the diffuser still allows light through.
1. Before fitting be sure to remove the protective film, which has to be carefully peeled off.
2. Fitting a diffuser of this size is easiest when the shade is already hanging in situ. First, flex the diffuser to allow to ease into the bottom of the lampshade, then bring it back down to rest on the bottom ring.
3. As you can see, the diffuser makes a difference to such a big lampshade. It provides it with structure, unifying the whole shade, and allows the light through in a very attractive way.
About Three Bears Prints
Fabric designer, Marliese of Three Bears Prints lives in Perth Scotland, where nature becomes the inspiration for her fabric collection, but her creative ideas don't stop there.
As well as designing fabrics, she's a dedicated furniture up-cycler, lampshade maker and sewer, and has a second muse in her daughter, for whom she creates fun fabric designs, such as her train track and halloween fabrics. Her designs are available as fabric and wallpaper and can be bought from her website. See her tips and handout on lampshade making here.
Follow Marliese on Instagram @threebearsprints and on Facebook.
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