If any outsider were to observe my crafting space they would notice that from project to project annoying little scraps of fabric are constantly thrown to the side and accumulate like dust bunnies on a filthy shelf. I have a sneaky suspicion that I am not alone in this quandrary though. If you're anything like me, I have thee perfect solution for this pesky problem. Drum roll please.........a lamp made out of all those left over fabric scraps.
Yes, no, maybe so? I sure do hope your answer is an exuberant yes and if it isn't well bummer here's a tutorial for one nonetheless :) Might I warn you however this project is not for the faint of heart, it does require somewhat boring and mundane actions repeated over and over again. But hey the end result is pretty awesome if I do say so myself. So let's get started.
Materials Needed:
- Thrift store lamp base
- Thrift store wire framed lamp shade with multiple sides
- A low wattage lightbulb
- Fabric scraps...lots and lots of fabric scraps
Directions:
1. An afterthought I had on this project was how cool it would look if the actual frame underneath was spray painted. Too bad for me this wasn't an option once all the fabric was on (clearly) but to spare you the bittersweet afterthought of your project potentially being much greater than it is, I recommend considering spray painting the metal frame. Maybe it's for you, maybe it's not, but give it a thought.
2. Start snipping away and making strips of all lengths in bunches of different colors, unless you're going for a certain look, in that case, good job you being creative!
3. Now comes tying. So much tying. I really did not do the placing of the strips in any particular order. I started putting random colors on all four sides at different heights and just kept going around. I found this to be easier than doing all one side because as the sides start to fill up there is less room for the knots so spreading them out gives more space.
4. See all the flappy fringies? Don't cut any of the extra strips on the sides from the knots till the end.
5. Pull the knots towards the frame. I learned this quickly as I got upset that the strips kept getting stretched out longer than I wanted them to be, then throwing placement off. To solve this dilema, when tying the second side down, pull the knot against the frame instead of pulling the fabric from the knot.
6. Just keep tying, tying, tying. Here's the monotanous routine of this project. Don't back down though, you can do it!
7. Depending on how you want it to turn out you can start overlapping fabric to make it thicker and fill in some random empty spaces.
8. Once you have covered every last inch of the frame, which trust me is a beautiful feeling, ensure that all your knots are steady. Then start clipping away at those ends making the extra fabric from the knots short and stubby. Do this for all four sides.
9. Twist on a low wattage lightbulb (to prevent house fires for all that it's worth) and guess what? You have a fabric scrap lamp :)
To think that you just made a pretty sweet lamp out of something you already had is pretty nifty and recyclable, huh? Like usual, comment for questions or let us all know how awesome yours turned out.
Labels: crafts, DIY, Sewing, Thrifty Business, tutorials
