2 Day Lampshade Lady Workshop October 1 and 2, 2010

I am just announcing a 2 day workshop October 1 and 2  2010. This is my only workshop I will be doing this fall. My thoughts were that I know there are some of you that live quite a distance from Vermont and this will give you the double bang for your buck. Peak foliage and 2 days to come play with fabrics and create awesome lampshades. This is the weekend that usually the leaves are at their most beautiful.

The cost for the 2 day workshop will be $275. This will include all materials needed, you can bring your own fabrics if you choose. It will include lunch as well as a sip of wine and some Vermont goat cheese after a hard day's work!!!

My thoughts are that the first day we will learn many of the basic hardback lampshade making skills, learn best materials and make a mid size hex, hex bell or square shade. And Day 2 we will go on to more advanced, larger shade frames; this is something we do not usually have time for in a one day workshop. I will also go over making drum shades and empire shades.

Please try to plan ahead as this will fill up. I will need a deposit in advance of workshop as space is limited.

Dates and Time: Oct 1st. Friday 11am-5pm & Oct 2nd Saturday 9am-3pm.

Please email me or call me at the shop if you are interested in this workshop. The only other workshop I am doing is a one day workshop on Nantucket July 20th: contact Nantucket Historical Association's 1800 House for more info.

note: this is also the weekend of The Hildene Craft Show, which you could visit on Sunday. The show is quite a fun fall event, not the run of the mill craft show. I took my new book to the show last years and had forgotten what a nice show it is; I started my craft business going to this show so many years ago.  There are also several antique shows throughout Vermont this weekend.

Sweet Vintage Embroidery Lampshade or Textile Collage of Sorts

Geez,  somedays I can really get carried  designing and not even know where the time goes to....my style of meditation. The Zen of Lampshade Design... Somehow a couple hours have slipped by and I'm in the zone. I'm sure you guys know what I mean.... I'd say it's not a rare thing, but it doesn't happen all the time. Or maybe I just have to let it happen more often. Today I've started a couple of fun projects.

I'll show you the first one. It is a square clip shade, 4" top x 7" bottom x 7" high. A nice size table/desk lamp shade. Here's the embroidery I am working with. It has tons of holes, but most of the embroidery part is fine; I will work around the bad parts. I have chosen the square shape because that is what works best with the amount of fabric and the pattern. It will keep most of " the good stuff" intact.

   

I cut out the 4 panels of styrene and laminated them to the fabric and cut out. Note: I trimmed the back of the embroidery; this can be tedious and you have to be careful not to nip the fabric.... done that before!!! I trim the threads because it looks better when lite up.
 

All was going swell till I had to figure out trims... nothing really matched for the trims- so I found something similar. Another embroidery scrap that blended really pretty. I am showing the pressure sensitive cloth tape. I comes on big rolls-sticky on one side. The Lampshop calls it "Bias Fold Trim Backer #322. It goes on the back of the fabric.
 

Next for the top and bottom trim. This took some searching. The grass green is not one of my colors, which can sometimes be a problem cause I don't have too many things in my shop that is that color and don't usually want to highlight it. I found these 2 scallop edgings from 2 different vintage pieces. It can be fun to use them by folding the edge back onto itself. I added the 5/8" grosgrain first and then the scallop edging.
 

I added the trims. It's funny how some of the coolest shades don't look so great in photographs... this one looks much better in my shop.... oh well. And here it is lit up on a vintage glass lamp.

Cost: $75.
 

I want to mention a blog:Textile Treasure Seeker

It's is a great blog for all of us fabric lovers. Katie is a freelance writer and very generously reviewed my book. Thank You Katie! I really appreciate the wonderful review. I loved her blog list;  it was such a treat to see some fresh new blogs from the UK. I recommend checking out her site. Blogging sure has made the world a little smaller once again. And now it's time for another cup of tea on this side of the ocean.