A Simple Kind of Life: Anthro Inspired Lamp Tutorial

A few days ago I showed you the Anthropologie inspired lamp I redid for our master bedroom (which if you remember, cost me $0.00 to replicate!)

I actually found a blog where someone did a modified tutorial of this shade but switched up the colors and opted for ruffles. (Check it out here.) When I saw it, I knew immediately that I wanted to attempt this on my little Ikea lamp. I searched for more photos of the lamp on Anthropologie's website, but it must be an old product because I came up with nada.

Here are the supplies I used:

- old lamp shade

- fabric (in color of your choice)

- scissors

- glue gun

- iron

- a free evening (this project probably took me an hour and a half)

Since I haven't learned how to use my sewing machine yet and wanted to do more of a replica than the modified tutorial I found, I was going to have to figure it out on my own. I also chose to match the colors used on the Anthropologie lampshade, but there are tons of other color combinations to try. Different shades of one color would be cool and if placed correctly could create an ombre effect.

I went to my fabric stash (which includes old clothes I plan to donate unless I come up with a project for the fabric) and found these almost perfect matches. The white fabric was a big piece leftover from our wedding photos. My mom had purchased it for me to sit on so I didn't get my dress dirty while sitting outside. The black and beige are both shirts, and the grey was an old pair of leggings I never wear anymore.

I cut the fabric into long 1" wide strips. I chose to do 1 inch because I wanted my layers to be fairly thin, and I planned to fold each strip in half. I also planned to slightly overlap each layer, making the part that showed slightly less than half an inch.

I folded each strip in half lengthwise and used my iron to press and seal the seam.

The seam doesn't have to be a perfect one, just good enough so that the fabric doesn't open while you are working with it. Towards the end when I was running out of fabric and needed to cut some more I actually just folded the seams and semi-sealed them with my fingers because I was too lazy to reheat the iron. Worked just as well. Again, you just want it to be easy to work with.

Since I cut my strips fairly long, I ended up cutting some of them in half to get the desired width. I wanted each strip to be one third to one half the circumference of the shade so I would be able to fit 2-3 colors per line. Starting at the bottom, I used my hot glue gun and attached each strip to the lampshade. I made sure to attach the seam towards the top of the shade so the open end was facing the base.

When I glued the second row I slightly overlapped the fabric to leave a thinner strip on each layer. Sometimes I overlapped the ends of the strips in the same line, sometimes I just lined them up end to end. I didn't want the fabric to look too perfect so I mixed and matched the order of colors, sometimes even letting the same color touch and overlap.

Once I finished the layers of fabric up to the top of the shade, I needed to make a clean edge on both sides. I chose to use the beige fabric and cut a strip that was about 2 inches wide and slightly longer than the entire circumference of the shade top and bottom (Note: the bottom strip will be longer since the shade widens slightly).

Folding over one side of the strip to create a clean seam, I pressed it with the iron to hold.

Using my glue gun, I attached the smooth edge to the top of the lamp slightly overlapping the last layer of fabric. The rough, 'ragged' edge of the 2" fabric strip wrapped over the edge of the shade towards the inside.

Once I had the fabric glued around the entire circumference of the shade, I cut off the excess so that my ends could meet, creating a smooth seam. I then used my glue gun and attached the other end to the inside of the lampshade. Since I made my strips fairly wide (2 inches), the fabric wrapped on the inside was long enough that you can't really see the seam where it meets the lampshade.

Once finished, my lamp looked like this:

Pretty each to do and can be made using supplies you already have lying around the house. (Assuming you have fabric, of course. Otherwise you can go my route and cut fabric from old clothes.)

Disclaimer: This blog wouldn't be 100% honest if I didn't let you in on a mistake I made. I was so happy and thrilled with the lamp, but when night came and I actually turned on the lamp, I saw that the embroidery from the original shade shows through the white fabric. So If you have a 'busy' lamp shade to start like I did, I would suggest wrapping a thin layer of solid fabric around the entire lampshade before attaching the fabric strips.