Tuesday, June 19, 2007

<3 for lampshades

It's funny, one of the first things I think when I'm designing my fabric is "ooh, how would this look as a lampshade??". I think I've been quietly obsessing over making my fabric into lampshades for quite some time now. I love lamps - they make SUCH a difference to the feel of a room. When I first met Pete I fell in love with his bedroom for all the lamps he had around the place, and now we have them all around the living room :)

Anyway, the biggest challenge has been finding the wire lampshade frames. They are surprisingly difficult to come across in old Melbourne town. Okay I admit, I knew for quite some time that you could get them from Handworks in Prahran, but like many Melbournians I suffer from a strange irrational fear of crossing the Yarra River to the other side of town. "Ah, your party is in St Kilda. Ohhh...."


Anyway, my good friend Karin kept me company on this arduous journey and finally I got to make these!






The one on the left is Kristen Doran's Mollybirds fabric - it makes a gorgeous table lamp and I love the texture of the fabric. The key to successfully lampshade making is spray adhesive - my new love. I might post a tute about how to make them shortly.


These two will probably go up on etsy once I sort out my pricing and packaging. They're fully fitted with power cord, switch and bulb socket, but I suppose that won't be much use to US customers! So maybe i'll sell the electical bits separately if people want them.


Oh and thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post about A2 :) :)

16 comments:

justinamaria said...

Lara, those lamps are so fantastic! You know what else is fantastic? That I got the chance to meet you at the markets last weekend. Yay! Oh! And Japan! I'm jealous! So many exclamation points!

Anonymous said...

Sweet :) I agree with you about lamps...I love how in american movies they have one switch at the door that turns on all the lamps in the room...I want that!! Hope you post a lamp tutorial, I can never find ones that I like and I've always thought I'd like to have a go at making some :)

Anonymous said...

oh wow, they're wonderful! :-)
still need to work on my DIY lampshade project.

a quick question: do you use UK-like fittings in Australia? Or European-like?
just wondering.

And the A2 article = great!

cheers

Kristen Doran said...

Hey, Lara - nice shades!

Unknown said...

I'm totally obsessed with pretty lamps and lampshades too! Like the obsession with pretty wallpaper, I'm sure a lot of it comes out of being so tired of institutional white walls and garish overhead lighting of dorm rooms. Please do post a tutorial for how to make them if you get a chance. Thanks! :)

Chara Michele said...

I love those lamps! Such a great way to use your fabric:)

Gracie said...

Wow beautiful lamps!
And great blog by the way =)

Gracie

Heather Moore said...

Tute! Tute! Pleez - I love lamps too.

Heather Moore said...

Oh, and thnaks for your sweet comment on my blog. Looking forwards to seeing your Crafty Synergy interview soon!

Anonymous said...

Beautifully done! I want to read your DIY instructions on how to make them.

The fabrics you used look fabulous. The Mollybirds fabric is my favorite. It is a good idea to sell only the lampshade to please foreigners like me. It is not just a question of money; the custom guys will make no fuss if you ship only a lampshade.

Daydream Lily said...

I love I love !! they are so lovely, I would like them for my lounge room.
How did you make them?

Anonymous said...

These lights are beautiful, I love how you keep on reinventing your work into different forms.

Anonymous said...

These lamps are really beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Those are *awesome*. I'm going to have to try and figure out how to make my own.

Anonymous said...

Lovely, lovely, lovely!
What a treat.
My lounge room needs these!

joanne said...

Lara you are very funny - come on over the river its not really that bad!!!! Love love love the lamps