#professionalshades

Mar 7
4 min

Dannells Lampshade Services - Build a Bespoke Lampshade

Crave the creative license to create the exact size and shape of lampshade you need to fit your space? In today’s blog post, we’ll take you through how you can build your own bespoke lampshade using our specialist lampshade services and materials from our extensive professional range, in just 5 easy steps. Step 1 – Pick your Ringset or Frame If your table or floor lamp base requires a specialist lampshade or you’re coveting a lampshade from the high street and can’t find what

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Feb 14
4 min

BEAM - How To Make Your Lampshade Business More Profitable

Setting up a small business can be incredibly rewarding, but it also has to pay the bills. If you’re following your passion for lampshade making, either making lampshades to sell, teaching workshops or even retailing our kits, our range of Lampshade Making Packs provide bespoke solutions to meet your needs. Importantly each pack makes your end product more profitable, bringing the cost per lampshade down, and allowing you to focus your energy on being creative! Manufacturers’

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Jan 26
3 min

NEW Fabrics - Design and Print your own Lampshade Fabric

New for 2023 we’ve extended our lampshade fabric printing range, adding two new high-quality fabrics selected specially to make your bespoke lampshade design stand out from the crowd! Pick from our new luxurious satin or hardwearing 100% natural cotton, both of which offer different fabric finishes and can be used with our standard sized lampshade panels. Today we’ll introduce you to all of the benefits of printing onto our satin and natural cotton, as well as share the detai

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Jan 9
3 min

5 Unique Lampshade Making ideas to try for 2023!

2023 is here and if you’re looking for a new lampshade making adventure, look no further than our 5 ideas below. As much as our Lampshade Making Kits offer everything you need to make your own bespoke lampshade in a fabric to suit your style, there are plenty more creative additions and skills to learn. Here are our five favourite ways to make your lampshade stand out from the crowd! Metallic Lampshade Liners Make your next lampshade a metallic one! Easier than you think to a

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Dec 13, 2022
4 min

Christmas Lampshade - Star Shaped Frames

We’ll be wishing on a star this Christmas, a star-shaped lampshade that is! Completely unique, our star-shaped frames, together with our Lampshade Making PVC, make a lampshade like no other and will definitely be a talking point with your guests! Not available to buy on the high street, our six-pointed star-shaped lampshade is the perfect vehicle for either a patterned or plain fabric and would look just as good in a space-themed fabric in a child’s room, as it would in a bea

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Aug 11, 2022
4 min

New Lampshade Shape - How to make a Y-Frame Lampshade

New, novel and completely unique, our Y-Frame Lampshade ring set will certainly add a point of difference to your room! A shade like no other, the three arms create the Y or propeller shape, which is a fantastic vehicle for a plain fabric which enhances the unusual shape. For double the impact, pair with an eye-catching pattern! Read on for more information on the materials you need and our step-by-step tutorial packed with plenty of hints and tips, to help you make this quir

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Jun 2, 2022
4 min

Lampshade Hack #8 - Jubillee Ribbon Pinch Pleat Shade

We couldn't let the Platinum Jubilee slip by without celebrating the occasion, so we've taken inspiration from a vintage lampshade style - the pinch pleat shade - and added our own modern ribbon twist. Using royal blue striped ribbons, matching bias tape and a Conical Lampshade Making Kit this shade hack is packed with new, but easy to grasp skills and we think the result is definitely fit for a queen! What you’ll need to make your Ribbon Pinch Pleat Conical Shade 30cm Conica

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Apr 19, 2022
5 min

Lampshade Inspiration - Going Large with Lampshades

The upshot of making a super-sized lampshade is not only the wow factor but the huge surface area that you need to cover to make up the shade. In today’s blog post we showcase three creatives who scale up their talents to make huge lampshades with a difference, using innovative techniques, community art and unusual materials. Dominic Green - Statement and Style Dominic Green’s story may start in a similar way to many lampshade makers – a desire to buy a lampshade that fitted

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Sep 24, 2021
4 min

New Product - Introducing Pleated Lampshade Sleeves

It’s NEW product time and today we’d like to introduce you to our Pleated Lampshade Sleeves which are smart lampshade solution, in more ways than one! Made using neat accordion pleating, our Pleated Lampshade Sleeves are quick and easy to put together and will add instant sophistication to any room! Offering an eye-catching interior alternative to a shop-bought lampshade, our Pleated Lampshade Sleeves work in tandem with our stylish French Drum frames, which taper outwards fr

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Sep 7, 2021
4 min

BEAM - Making lampshades to expand your soft furnishings services

The skill of making bespoke curtains and blinds is not to be underestimated, as many curtain and blind makers will know. From initial measure up to the handover of the finished product, hours of work, skill and knowledge are put to use. But what if you, as a curtain maker, could add another soft furnishings skill to your repertoire to increase the services you offer? When changing the look and feel of a space, buying a new lampshade naturally goes hand in hand with changing o

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Sep 2, 2021
4 min

Introducing lampshade diffusers + DIY bespoke fabric diffuser tutorial

'Diffuser' might be a new word for your lampshade lexicon, but they’re a handy addition to your lampshade making materials, enabling you to change the look of your shade and the light it emits. Far from dull, our diffusers come in a range of shapes, sizes and patterns and if you're keen to add another aesthetic trick to your arsenal, we'll take you through what you need to know about diffusers, as well as a handy tutorial on how to make your own from your chosen fabric. What’

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Aug 27, 2021
3 min

Introducing Self-Adhesive Textile tape and how to use it

As a follow up to our recent post on our fabulous and creative laminated parchment papers, we’d like to introduce you to their perfect partner – Self Adhesive Textile Tapes. Primrose yellow, bottle green, blush pink and mid grey are just a few of the 35 colours (yep – you read right!) that our Self Adhesive Textile Tapes are available in, meaning whatever colour you’re looking for we’re bound to have it! Not only used to create a strong bond at the top and bottom of a parchme

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Aug 11, 2021
4 min

Lampshade Inspiration - How to use laminated parchments

Parchment lampshades are back! Offering a delicate, soft glow and holding plenty of possibilities for creativity, their natural feel fits well with many interior trends. Just a small step up in terms of skill from making one of our lampshade making kits in this post we'll introduce you to five types of parchment and tips on how to finish your parchment shades. The Story of Parchment Over the years lampshades have been made from many materials and parchments, although used pre

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Jul 16, 2021
6 min

Dannells Digital Lampshade Printing with Tide and Isle

As well as being specialists in all things lampshades, did you know at Dannells we are print specialists too? By combining our knowledge and expertise of the two, we're able to print unique artwork and illustrations directly onto fabrics selected for their suitability for lampshade making. And what better way to celebrate the success of our printing service, by showing off the fantastic lampshades of Tide and Isle, a new venture by long-time lampshade maker Lucy Lo-Vel, using

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Jul 6, 2021
2 min

DIY Tutorial - Make and Paint Kit Scribble Sharpie shade

Our Make and Paint Lampshade Making Kits are for exactly what it says on the box, making and painting, but in our quest to try new, inspirational and creative ideas for our lampshade making kits we’ve taken another much loved products, the humble Sharpie Pen Set, and put the two together. The results? This Sharpie Scribble Shade DIY tutorial. Born from a simple crafting technique that makes ‘squiggle gift wrap’ using brown paper and a bunch of felt tip pens (try it, it’s real

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Jun 25, 2021
3 min

Lampshade Kit Hack #7 – Applying bias tape to a shade

As well as being the creative vehicle for making your bespoke lampshade, our Lampshade Making Kits can be added to with easy #hacks delivering a shade that's even more unique. In this post we show you how to add bias tape around the top and bottom of your shade, giving it a polished professional finish. Whether you buy off-the-shelf bias binding (check out our range of patterned bias binding) or make your own in a matching fabric, this clever technique can be used with fabric

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Mar 18, 2021
2 min

Interiors inspiration: The natural trend

It’s been top of the shops for a couple of years and the trend for natural materials in interiors is definitely here to stay for 2021. From string to bamboo and hessian to cork, the natural trend allows you to add interesting textures to a room, that aren’t just pleasing on the eye, but also create a great sense of balance too. It’s fit perfectly with our current need to bring the outside in. The upside of this interiors trend? It slips effortlessly into place due to its mute

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Mar 16, 2021
3 min

Shade Carrier Systems explained

If you’ve been making lampshades, using our Lampshade Making Kits, you’ll be aware that there are two different methods to attach your lampshade to a lamp base, the first being a standard utility fitting and the second being a duplex fitting, the later of which needs to be used with shade carrier system. As shade carriers systems can sometimes be a little confusing, we thought we’d straighten the record and explain the difference and the benefits this has for you, as a shade

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Feb 24, 2021
3 min

Lampshade Kit Hack #6 - Starry Night Lampshade + FREE Template PDF

Highlighting our professional cutting service in our last blog post got us thinking that it would be fun to explore a DIY version of the same thing and this effective star cut out hack was born! Making shades for a children's room opens up plenty of cool creative ideas and we think kids will love the soft glow of the stars shining through the fabric. The stars are a simple design, the perfect unisex lampshade and with all of our drum lampshade making kits, this can be used as

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Feb 22, 2021
2 min

3 creative services for next level lampshades

Pimping your lampshade is easier than you think. There’s the DIY route, that we all know and love, using one of our lampshade making kits with beautiful fabric, sophisticated trims or coloured, metallic or even neon PVC's, to bring your shade to life. Or you could use one of our 3 creative services, to really enhance your shade making and take it to the next level. Pick from designing your own fabric, creating your own bespoke shade dimensions or trying out one of our excitin

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