What I Made Wednesday {Rag-Tied Lampshade}

What a charming little project! I had so much fun working on this lampshade re-do and I hope you try it, too!

The lampshade in the basement needed some work but I wasn't sure if my idea was going to work. I didn't want to ruin the already-existing lampshade and I didn't want to buy a new one for this project. Then, lo and behold, sitting there on the curb, ready to go to the landfill was a neighbor's standing lamp. It called to me so I didn't ignore the plea of "take me home". I can't believe what people throw out. Yes, there was a tear in the lampshade, but oh! the possibilities. I've got future plans for the rest of the lamp, but this lampshade was destined for today's project so enjoy!

Before shot: the lamp is nice but boring. After shot: full of character and a little bit of pride from salvaging somebody else's trash and making it live another day in another way (what's with me and my rhymes today?).

It was so much fun picking out the fabric at Hobby Lobby!

What You'll Need
Cotton fabric in complimentary colors and styles
Pinking shears
Scissors
An old lampshade, of course
Note: my lampshade measures 10 inches in diameter at the top and about 15 inches at the bottom of the lampshade. Each patterned fabric, I purchased only 1/4 of a yard. The solid fabric, I purchased 1/2 of a yard. I had some fabric leftover, but not much. I had a total of 7 different fabrics.

What You'll Do

First things first: tear off the fabric from the lampshade down to the wire.

This next part is going to look a little weird because the setting is in my car. I had to wait for Super Hubby to get done with a client and took this project with me to work on in the car.  Great use of my time!

Take pinking shears and even up the bottom of the fabric. Be sure you cut the correct direction to ensure you're strip of fabric will be long enough. Then, I cut on the fold of the fabric at the top. You should have two identical panels of the fabric.

Using regular scissors, cut a slit two-finger widths across the fabric.

Starting at the slit, tear down the fabric into long strips. This should be easy.

Take the strip and knot it to the top and the bottom of the lampshade.

Just like this.

Then, keep going, and going, and going with all your fabric!

What You'll Need to Know to Finish
This was such a fun and relaxing project to do on a rainy day while stuck in a car, waiting for Super Hubby. The whole project took less than 3 hours from start to finish.