I've been sewing a few odds and ends to suit our new lounge room colours and style. I didn't want to spend much, or anything really 🙄, so I looked in my fabric stash to see what cotton or linen I had in the right colours. Out came some blue and white cotton I've had for at least 15 years, that made a skirt for a large lamp, and a Tilda fat quarter from last year that I'd forgotten about. That fat quarter made a skirt for a small lamp. I also had some dangly pink edging and that added just the right finish. It's amazing what you can make from what's sitting in a cupboard.
Making the casing - it's just a tunnel in which to thread elastic so the skirt will fit at the top and flair out at the bottom.
The skirt covers an old and boring lamp shade and can be removed to be washed.
These little lamp skirts are so easy to make and they'll change an old lamp into something fresh and lovely. They're like a tiny skirt with an elasticised waist band. Just measure the lamp shade you want to cover around the base of the shade, and from the base to the top. Cut a rectangle of fabric to those measurements, adding a little extra for your hems. Hem the bottom and make a casing at the top. Through that casing, thread a piece of thin elastic and make what will look like a little dolls skirt. Before you finish off the top casing, place it on your lamp to make sure the hole will sit nicely on top of the lamp. When you're sure of the fit, sew up the casing and iron the skirt. Finished!
I'm also making two cushion covers. The blue fabric I'm using for one of them is on the machine. I'll show them during the week.
You don't need an expensive sewing machine to make soft furnishings. I bought my simple, non-computerised sewing machine on eBay about 12 years ago and it's still going strong now. You can make a wide range of household linens - aprons, napkins, tablecloths, tea towels, pillow cases, cushion covers, tote bags and all of them will be unique and cost a fraction of what you'd pay at the shops. That sounds like wise economy to me.
