How to Cover a Lampshade Frame With Fabric & a Hot Glue Gun
- 1). Pick a lampshade fabric that matches or complements the color and style of the room. Choose a yellow or red-colored fabric for warm lighting, or a green or blue-colored fabric for a cold glow.
- 2). Iron the lampshade fabric to get rid of any creases.
- 3). Turn on the hot glue gun and place a clear, all-purpose glue stick in it. Give the gun approximately 10 minutes to melt the glue.
- 4). Outline the lampshade on a large piece of newspaper, kraft paper or wrapping paper. Place the lampshade frame on its side. Mark the top and bottom of the frame. Roll the frame over the paper while tracing along its bottom and top edges. Stop rolling once you're back at the starting point. You must end up with two half-moon-shaped lines. Draw a vertical line from the outer points of the upper line to the outer points of the lower line.
- 5). Measure 1/2 inch outward from the lines you've drawn, and make a mark. Make similar marks around the perimeter of the shade outline. Connect the marks so you have a new outline that is 1/2 inch larger than the original shade outline in all directions. Cut out your pattern with scissors, on the outer line.
- 6). Drape the paper pattern over the lampshade frame to make sure it fits. Make adjustments if needed.
- 7). Place the paper pattern on top of the lampshade fabric. Use sewing pins to attach the paper to the fabric. Cut out the pattern in the fabric.
- 8). Seam the left-hand side of the fabric. Make a 1/2-inch fold in the fabric and secure it on the "wrong" side of the fabric -- which will be the inside of the lampshade -- with glue.
- 9). Glue the fabric onto the frame. Place the fabric on a flat surface, "wrong" side up. The side of the fabric that will be the outside of the lampshade should be down on the flat surface. Position the frame at the un-seamed side of the fabric, so that a 1/2 inch border is sticking out on the bottom and the top of the frame. Apply a strip of glue to the frame and slowly roll it over the fabric. Keep applying glue and rolling the frame until all the fabric is attached. Run a light bead of glue down the back of the seamed edge, and overlay it onto the un-seamed edge to seal the lampshade.
- 10
Apply glue to the inside of the 1/2-inch fabric borders that are sticking out at the bottom and top of the frame. Fold the strips around the frame to secure them.
