Drum Shades Still Rule the Day and Easy to Make

Drum shades are one of the easiest lampshades to make. They take lots of fabric and trim, but go together pretty fast. I like making drum shades with equal dimensions top and bottom. These shades are 16" across the top x 16" across the bottom and 10.5" high. It's a handy size for floor lamps, pendant lamps and large table lamps. COST for this shade, $150 plus shipping.

This top shade is trimmed with a turquoise and green trim; it adds the perfect finish to this eye stopping shade.


Drum shades are made by drawing a large rectangle. The size can be adjusted to your room needs. Cut styrene to the size needed for shade. The diameter of shade x 3.14 = needed length plus an inch for the overlap. Cut out and laminate to the back side of fabric. You will need a top ring and a bottom ring. Glue top ring into place running a light bead of glue and setting ring in place with clothes pins and then do the same with bottom ring and glue up back seam.

Use grosgrain on top and bottom to hold wires in place. Make sure to use grosgrain with 40% cotton. Add decorative trim to finish. These are quick basic directions, many more tips in my new Lampshade Lady book, plus great sources for trims, fabrics, lampshade materials and more.
Love this one! You'll probably recognize the chenille spread. I just may have to take one of these home. It's fits the bill for VINTAGE MATERIALS MADE MODERN. This chenille was hanging in my shop for days. I looked over to it to see the circle pattern. ooooh, very exciting. I was psyched to give this shade a try. SHADE cost for this one: $150. plus shipping.

And lastly, a quite shot of the lampshade shop. No photo prep here!!! It was a busy Columbus Day long weekend. A day off today. Phew, good thing. And a busy workshop tomorrow, big group from all over New England. One last workshop after this on Tuesday, Oct. 27 th 11am-5pm. I still have spots if you are interested, call this shop. 802-325-6308. Last class for 2009. I'll be scheduling winter 2010 workshops shortly.

thanks to all of you for all the great emails about my new book. I appreciate all the good words. It has been a special time for me. Very rewarding after completing such a big project.

Everything Drum Shades

Drum Shades Questions/Ideas Abound: I have been getting lots of drum shade questions from lots of you. I will try to answer a few of them here. If you have made a drum shade, feel free to add your suggestions.
1. Drum shades can have the same top/bottom dimensions or may have a slight slant with bottom dimension a couple of inches larger than the top dimension.
2. Use a fabric with large motif. It is a good chance to use your wild fabrics or choose a nice white linen.
3. Can I use a drum shade for a pendant lamp? Drum shades are perfect and much more affordable than a chandelier. I have one over my work desk that is 16"across the top and bottom and 9" high.
4. How do I hang a pendant drum shade? I have one at home that is hardwired into my ceiling. I had my electrician install it for me. At my shop, the one over my desk is hanging on a cord with socket and plugged into the wall.
5. What type of lampshade top do I need? There are several possibilities for attaching the shades. An UNO socket and top is an easy way, although they are hard to buy the uno top that is wide enough. The largest they come is 10" which is not usually large enough. They can be special ordered. The uno top fixture is then screwed onto an uno socket.
The next to hang a drum shade is to use a washer top on the shade. You will need a 1" threaded rod, an edison socket and cord, and a threaded washer.
To do: a. put cord through the threaded washer
b. put cord through the threaded rod and tighten washer onto end of threaded rod
c. add shade by putting threaded rod w/ cord through the washer top of shade and screw the threaded rod into the bottom of the edison socker. Adjust to tighten so shade is snug between socket bottom and threaded screw.
d. attach the cord to the socket, then cord has 2 wires that will be screwed onto socket. One of the wires on the cord has a ridged side; this will be screwed around the silver screw on socket. The other wire is smooth and will be threaded onto the brass screw. Tighten both screws as tight as possible.
e. Add the top part of the brass socket. Listen for a double click to make sure the top part of the socket is securely in place.
f. Have electrician hardwire into ceiling.
6. I have bare light bulbs on my ceiling. What do you suggest? All too many homes have unattractive light bulbs hanging from ceilings. I am just in the process of painting my pantry and have 2 light bulbs that we have been living with for almost 20 years. After all my hard work of painting, I have just made 2 shades today to clip onto the light bulbs. I have made 2 shades with a washer top and added a clip adapter and decorative finial. The clip tops do not come wide enough, my shade measures 10" across the top x 10" across the bottom and 6" high. I think it will be a perfect size. I used one of my pushpin finials to go with the clip adapter. So the shade will clip on upside down and will see the finial on the bottom. I am looking forward to going home to see how they'll look. And of course the fabrics don't match..... one is a vintage french cottagey one and the other is Heather Bailey Design from Free Spirit Fabrics. It is the same print as the top photo here, but different dimensions.


Drum Shade with Amy Butler Print
(this is sold, but a nice example of a decorative combination)
7. How do I know how big to make my shade for a table or floor lamp?
Usually the shade should be 3-4 inches wider than the widest part of the lamp, this will depend on the size of the lamp and the effect you wish to create. I recently made a fantastic combination for a friend. She needed a shade for a tall thin lamp for her new studio. We decided to go for a drum shade that was only 5" tall and 10" across the top and bottom. If you can visualize this, it is quite funky. I loved the shape and so did the owner. It made a huge statement that she was trying to achieve in her new space.
8. Where do I buy supplies for Drum Shades and what will I need for materials?
The 2 good sources for lampshade materials that I use are: Fogg Lighting
and The Lamp Shop.
You will need to order styrene, grosgrain, pressure sensitive cloth tape aka bias trim backer, glue, glue bottle, washer top-clip top or uno top, and bottom wire. You will need the fabric you choose to use.
9. How much fabric will I need?
Measure the width of shade and multiply times 3.14 plus 1/2" for overlap. Example: 12" drum x 3.14= 37.68, round it up to 38" and add 1" for overlap, total 39" of fabric for 12" wide.
10. I want to use a stripe fabric for a drum shade.
If you use a stripe, consider which way you want the stripe to go, either up and down or around the shade and take this into consideration when ordering fabric.
11. What about trims on Drum Shades?
I have used some onion tassels and made a really girly shade just perfect to match the lamp. I've used other trim with 2 1/2" bobbles. Mix up trims-one for the top and a different one for the bottom or use no trims at all. Some of the ultra modern shades wrap the fabric right around the top and bottom of the shade; I just did this for my pantry. It will make less opportunity for dust to cling to.

I'm sure there are more drum shade questions, but hope this helps.