#creativeprocess

Jan 10
4 min

How to Choose the Perfect Sized Lampshade

If you’ve discovered our Lampshade Making Kits but are struggling to work out what size of lampshade you need, this post has ALL the answers! Our guides will help you choose the most suitable diameter, height and shape of lampshade, allowing you to focus on the exciting part – choosing your fabric! Choosing the width or diameter of shade (height of base) Firstly let’s start by explaining the diameter of a lampshade, which is the width across a lampshade, from one side of the

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Jan 5
3 min

2022 Blog Review - A Year of Lampshade Making

Another year of fabulously creative lampshade making is nearly over and it’s time to look back on how the Dannells Lampshade Making blog has inspired, educated and supported your lampshade making skills and small lampshade making businesses. A true exchange of ideas, you, our customer community inspire us every day with the lampshades you make and we hope that the blog has done the same for you, in 2022! Soft Shade Making Series It was the year of the Soft Shade for Dannells,

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Sep 23, 2022
3 min

Lampshade Kit Hack #10 - Natural Table Lamp Kit

With natural materials and tones firmly rooted in today’s interior trends, we thought we’d give a natural make-over to one of our favourite products – the Table Lamp Making Kit. Effortless stylish and perfect for every room in the house, we’ve hacked this easy-to-make kit with the simple additions of raffia and wood, coordinated with a beautiful quality linen fabric from our latest fabric range. We think the result is both modern and impressive for very little time and effort

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Aug 30, 2022
3 min

Lampshade Style Guide - Paper Lampshades

While fabric is an excellent covering for making lampshades, the possibilities of using paper are endless, whether you're starting with a blank piece of paper for your creative ideas or using a map or wallpaper to create your own unique shade. In today's post, we explore the long history of paper lampshades and also the traditional, modern and innovative crafts and techniques that contribute to making paper lampshades real things of interior beauty. Basic history A staple of

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Aug 3, 2022
4 min

Lampshade Style Guide - Loose Cover Lampshades

Following the trend for whimsical, country cottage interior design, the loose lampshade cover has made a comeback in the last couple of years. Originally created for its functionality in busy working homes, the loose covered shade has become a way to effortlessly bring delicate patterns and prints into your home, with a side order of fabric embellishments! We explore the creative options the loose shade offers, the sizes and shapes of shade that work best with this style and

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Jul 14, 2022
3 min

Lampshade Kit Hack #9 – Retro Flower Silhouette Lampshade

Using the silhouette lampshade concept as the basis for our latest Lampshade Making Kit #hack, we've transformed a drum lampshade, by adding a hidden pattern to the inside. With a darker or coloured fabric, this will only show when the light is switched on. The striking retro flower design is created using the easy-to-use Olfa Circle Cutter, meaning a perfect circle every time. Have a go at our tutorial and you'll realise that the silhouette concept holds masses of creative

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Jul 6, 2022
3 min

Lampshade Style Guide - Silhouette Lampshades

Unique and striking, Silhouette lampshades have a fabulous element of surprise that springs to life when the light turns on! Increasingly more popular, this clever style can be made by using a plain lampshade outer fabric and a patterned inner covering, which can be seen as a 'silhouette' due to the glow from the bulb. This month's Lampshade Style Guide tells you all you need to know about Silhouette Lampshades, the lampshade supplies you need to make them and an inspiring mo

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Jun 14, 2022
4 min

Lampshade Style Guide - Candle Clip Lampshades

Wall lights can be a beautiful source of subtle lighting in your home, but can also be overlooked as a focal feature or being shown off with a unique shade. In this month’s Lampshade Style Guide, we look at the origins of the wall lights, tips on making Candle Clip Lampshades and ideas and inspiration from our army of makers to ensure these little shades shine! A little bit of history Wall lights and chandeliers have been the mainstays of lighting in homes, since medieval tim

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May 10, 2022
6 min

Lampshade Style Guide: Velvet Shades

Velvet, it seems, is never out of fashion. Its opulent qualities lend a touch of luxury to our interiors and for lampshades, it’s no different. With its history steeped in regal influences, in this month's Lampshade Style Guide we explore how velvet has become an accessible and tactile material for lampshade making, the perfect coordinating materials to use to showcase this and plenty of troubleshooting tips from our professional lampshade makers. A little bit of history Firs

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Apr 6, 2022
4 min

Lampshade Style Guide - Pleated shades

A lampshade style that’s hit the limelight in recent years, or should that be the spotlight, is the ‘hard’ pleated lampshade, defined by its knife pleat folds, that create a sharper and crisper looking shade than its soft shade fabric sibling. In this month’s Lampshade Style Guide, we look at the pleated shade’s origins, how versatile it is and tips for making one yourself. A little bit of history With help from David Mitchell from OrigamiHeaven.com, we’ve discovered that the

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Mar 8, 2022
4 min

Lampshade Style Guide - Empire Lampshades

Welcome to our new Lampshade Style Guide! In our new monthly series, we’ll be looking at one particular style of lampshade and each month we'll explore its USP. Focussing on shapes, types of fabrics and coverings and function for both soft and hard shades, we’ll delve into its history, uses and making tips, along with plenty of inspiration for how the shade can be best used in your home. We're kicking off this month with a traditional shaped hard shade – The Empire A little b

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Jan 5, 2022
4 min

BEAM – 5 ways to grow your lampshade making business

Happy 2022! With a new year ahead and after a couple of weeks of essential rest and relaxation, now is a great time to reassess where you are in relation to your goals for 2022 and your lampshade making business. If you’re ready to take the next step, we’ve got five exciting ways in which you can get to the top of your lampshade making game and add new services, breath new creative life into your products and expand your selling reach. Read on to find out how you can make 20

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Dec 23, 2021
3 min

Blog highlights and Top Posts of 2021

It’s been a busy year on the Dannells blog and with many people trying their hand at lampshade making in the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, we’ve been writing blog posts that inspire, educate and support you, whether you’re new to lampshade making or already an experienced and established lampshade maker. This year alone we’ve posted over 80 blog posts that cover everything from lampshade making tips, tricks and tutorials to small business advice. As 2021 draws to a close we tho

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Dec 14, 2021
3 min

Lampshade Inspiration - Different Shade Shapes

As fond as we are of the super versatile drum lampshades, that are seen everywhere from our homes to hotels to the high street, lampshades making doesn’t have to be all about circles! Once you have the skills in your lampshade making arsenal to make a drum shade, the world is your oyster when it comes to alternative shapes of shade. Today we’re going to showcase the other shades we stock, share maker inspiration to tempt you to try a brand new lampshade shape and give you exp

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Dec 8, 2021
3 min

Lampshade Inspiration – Stick It Metallic Lampshade Making PVC

Make your next lampshade a metallic one! Easier than you think to achieve, try making a glowing, sumptuous and expensive shade inner using our Stick It Metallic Lampshade Making PVC. In this post we’ll walk you through our range of four different metallic finishes, how to use them and of course show off the gorgeous shiny shades available! How to use As simple to use as our standard Stick It lampshade Making PVC LINK , just remove the release paper and laminate your choosen f

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Nov 25, 2021
5 min

Meet the Maker - Detola and Geek

This month's Meet the Maker, Detola of Detola & Geek came to lampshade making later in life, using her passion for African textiles as her vehicle for a new self-taught career. Building her business from making lampshades that pack a colourful punch to celebrate her Nigerian heritage, she cleverly uses a variety of lampshade shapes and sizes to show off the bold and beautiful patterns to their max. We catch up with Detola and find out more about how Detola & Geek started, how

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Nov 10, 2021
4 min

Behind the Scenes of Needcraft You Tube Video Shoot

Filming our You Tube lampshade videos is easily one of our favourite days of the year and our recent filming in September was no different - especially as we decided to freshen up the look, feel, venue and even camera angles of our You Tube videos to support our US Lampshade Making Kit range. In this post we take you behind the scenes and show you what happens behind the camera, as well as in front of it and introduce you to the 2021 filming crew! 9.00 am After a few hours of

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Oct 29, 2021
6 min

Meet the Maker - Silversoles Felted Textiles

A master of felt making, Emma of Silversoles uses her talents to make unquestionably beautiful and tactile lampshades, that bring both modern and traditional textures into her customers homes. With a background in textiles, Emma immediately fell in love with the hands on nature of her craft and it's sustainability, leading her to develop and play with a wide range of felting techniques and patterns. We chat to Emma in this month's Meet the Maker interview to find out more ab

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Oct 26, 2021
3 min

New Product - Dannells US Lampshade Making Kit Range

As our Needcraft Lampshade Making Kits hit American shores, to say we’re excited is an understatement! Already hugely popular in the UK and Europe, US customers will now be able to purchase our US Lampshade Making Kits directly from Amazon.com and we can’t wait to see what fabulous lampshades our state side customers will create! For newbie American lampshade makers, we've ensured that everything you need to make up your first lampshade is in the box, leaving you to simply ch

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Oct 15, 2021
4 min

Lampshade Inspiration - Tiered Lampshade Making System

Contrary to popular belief, tiered lampshades are not just the staple of luxury hotel lobbies and high-end restaurants. They can look fabulous in your home too and in this post we’re going share everything you need to know to make two, three and even four tiered lampshades! By using the same basic lampshade making skills as you would in one of our Needcraft Lampshade Making Kits, you can easily create a statement lampshade in your favourite fabric with one of our Tiered Lamps

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