| Making a Beaded Lampshade |
From "DIY Crafts"
episode DIC-115 |
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With some simple materials and a little know-how, you can create an exquisite beaded lampshade with Victorian flair. Beading expert Wendy Simpson Connor presents easy-to-follow directions and plenty of useful tips. Materials:
Length of 1/4" grosgrain ribbon
Calculator
Flat work surface
Scotch tape
English beading needle to accommodate your beads
Beads (Wendy used bugle beads and size 11-seed beads)
Nymo thread
Watch-crystal cement
Heat-resistant crafter's cement or hot-glue gun
Creating the Fringe - To figure out how much ribbon you'll need, measure the bottom diameter of the shade, and multiply by pi, or approximately 3.14. This yields the circumference of the lampshade. Add an extra 1/4" or so to your calculation for padding--especially if you plan to create a patterned bead design.
- Tape the ribbon to a work surface (figure A). (You can create a portable bead "table" by covering a board or old shelf with graph paper. Seal the graph paper with clear Con-TactB. paper to make the surface more durable. The graph paper helps serve as a guide for strand placement. Or you can mark off regular increments on the ribbon itself as a guide for the bead strands.)
- Bead a sample swatch before starting your project to make sure you like your bead design (figure B).
- Cut an arm's length of thread, and thread the needle. Nymo thread is recommended when beading lampshades because it's a very strong nylon thread that won't shrink or react to the heat generated by the lightbulb.
- At each of the markings, bring the needle down through the strand of beads and onto the thread. Then add a final bead to serve as the "pivot bead." Next, push the needle back up through the entire strand but not through the pivot bead (figure C).
- Hold onto the pivot bead while pulling on the "working" thread until the entire strand moves into place (figure D). Adjust the tension as you pull the beads. Work as tightly as possible but not so tightly that the bead strands curl.
- Sew a few stay stitches into the ribbon to hold the finished strand in place (figure E).
- Move over to the next mark on the graph paper (or on the ribbon itself). Take a stitch into the ribbon at the mark, and create another strand of bead fringe (figure F).
Continue in this fashion until the length of ribbon is filled with bead fringe. As you need more thread, secure all knots with watch-crystal cement. It has a very fine grain that won't warp the ribbon. Gluing the Beaded Fringe - Working very slowly, squeeze a generous portion of crafter's cement along the inside edge of the lampshade (figure G).
- Start by lining up the seam of the shade with one end of the beaded ribbon. Press a small section of ribbon into the glue, and wait till it starts to set up (figure H).
- Then roll the lampshade a small turn, add more cement, and press the next section of beadwork into the glue until it takes hold. Continue turning the lampshade slowly until the entire ribbon, section by section, is glued in place.
- Options: The larger the beads, the fewer strands you need and the faster the project takes shape. Instead of using ribbon, you can weave a strand of beads in a diamond-stitch pattern that could be glued to the outer rim of the lampshade (figure I).
- This beaded lampshade was created from 22 Comanche-stitched earrings that were attached to a frame. Braid was used to cover the stitches (figure J).
Tips: - All sorts of odds and ends can be used as bead holders, from soap dishes to frosting containers to the tops of aerosol cans.
- The best thread length makes beading comfortable at an arm's length. Don't make the thread too short or too long.
RESOURCES :
The Beaded Lampshade Book
Interstellar Publishing Company
La Mesa, CA 91943
Phone: 619-292-8191
Fax: 619-292-0373
Email: interstlr@aol.com
The Best Little Beading Book
Model: 0964595702
Author: Wendy Simpson Conner
Interstellar Publishing Company
La Mesa, CA 91943
Phone: 619-292-8191
Fax: 619-292-0373
Email: interstlr@aol.com
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