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Bright Ideas ahead: Revisiting The Complete Guide to Making Lampshades by Jane Warren  

Ready to bring out your inner lampshade maker? Whether you're a total beginner or an experienced lampshade maker looking to expand your skills, The Complete Guide to Making Lampshades by Jane Warren is the ultimate resource for your lampshade making journey.

 

Today we’re celebrating the success of The Complete Guide to Making Lampshades, a new step by step lampshade technique from Jane, finding how others have learnt from this amazing book and a special lampshade making Christmas Gift Deal (with a 20% discount) that will make sure it's in your Christmas stocking!


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5 Reasons to buy The Complete Guide to Making Lampshades


Jam-Packed with Lampshade Styles

From the simplest drum shade to exquisitely pleated, hand-sewn designs, Jane walks you through every lampshade style. Part 1 of the book focuses on hard lampshades (think rigid drum and other shapes), while Part 2 dives into soft fabric shades - gathered, pleated, tailored and many more.



Step-by-Step Clarity 

Each project comes with detailed, easy-to-follow instructions, supported by inspiring photographs and technical drawings. That means you can actually see how things fit, stitch, and fold - not just read about it.


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Tools, Materials & Insider Know-How

Jane doesn’t just teach you how to put a shade together - she explains what frames to choose, how to pick fabric or paper, ways to repurpose old shades, and even combines design ideas like block printing or hand painting to make your shade truly yours.



Troubleshooting & Sustainability 

One of the most valuable parts: practical tips to fix problems, plus guidance on remaking and recycling. If an old lampshade is gathering dust in your attic, this guide teaches you how to revive it.


Expert Author

Jane Warren is an expert in her field and the founder of The Lampshade Loft, a business dedicated to making lampshades and teaching other her skills. She’s run workshops, taught across the UK, and brought over a decade of hands-on experience to this book.


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Who The Book Is Good For


  • Beginners: If you’ve never made a lampshade before, the step-by-step tutorials and explanations are very accessible.


  • Intermediate / Advanced Makers: The book doesn’t just cover basics - you’ll find more complex techniques (pleating, hand sewing), trim ideas, and design customisation.


  • Crafters Who Want to Reuse Materials: There are sections on recycling old shades, it’s eco-friendly and cost-efficient.


  • Creative Designers: If you want to design your own lampshade patterns (block printing, painting), the book provides inspiration from talented creatives, such as Anna Vojtisek featured below, to support your lampshade ideas.


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Case Study: The Whimsical Chair

Rhonda, the soft furnisher and upholsterer behind The Whimsical Chair in Colorado, USA, is a brilliant example of how The Complete Guide to Making Lampshades can open new creative doors. The book didn’t just help her expand her skill set - it also inspired her to grow her business in new and exciting ways.


After working through the techniques in the book, Rhonda quickly found herself confidently making a wide variety of shades, from structured hard-frame lampshades to beautifully crafted box-pleated, soft-pleated, and gathered fabric shades.


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With her new skills - and the confidence that comes from mastering them - Rhonda has since added dedicated lampshade-making workshops to her existing programme of soft furnishing classes. She now teaches makers how to create both hard and soft shades, passing on the techniques she first explored through the book.


And she didn’t stop there. During a trip to the UK last year, Rhonda took the opportunity to learn directly from Jane Warren herself, attending one of Jane’s lampshade-making workshops to deepen her knowledge even further.


Find out more about Rhoda's Lampshade making adventures, by visiting her website, or giving her a friendly follow on Instagram or Facebook.


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Christmas Gift Deal - The Perfect Pair for Makers!

Give the gift of both lampshade knowledge AND materials to a loved one this Christmas! We've paired our best selling 30cm Drum Lampshade Making Kit with Jane's inspiring book, in a deal saving you 20% off!


Perfect for a lampshade making novice or keen crafter, this duo will spark confidence and creativity so the receiver can get started straight away! Buy the 30cm Drum Lampshade Making Kit and The Complete Guide to Making Lampshade for £25.45, instead of £32.19!


This offer is valid until 19th December 2025. Simply add both items to the checkout to receive your discount.


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Alternatively, we’re offering The Complete Guide to Making Lampshades, for just £14.69, a £5.31 saving on the RRP.

 

And with your copy of The Complete Guide to Making Lampshades, you’ll receive a £5 voucher to redeem against your first order with Dannells for lampshade making kits or materials.


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How to Hand Sew Hard Lampshade Seams

Always willing to share her expert advice on our Lampshade Makers Facebook Group, Jane has kindly supplied us with a new technique for sewing hard lampshade making seams, which is not included in the book. Either complete this technique using Jane's step by steps, or alternatively watch Jane's video below.


Jane has this to say:

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"When making hard lampshades, there are times when the seam just doesn’t ‘seem’ to want to stay stuck! This is particularly evident when making double sided lampshades, or when using thick fabrics such as wool, when there is more pressure on the closing.


One solution is to hand sew the seam, either just along the outside or sometimes with double sided shades, along the inside too. I find the best stitch to use is slip stitch, because its role is not just to keep two materials together, but also to be invisible."


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Follow these steps for the perfect hand sewn lampshade seam:

 

1. Make your lampshade as usual - but ensure you use the folded seam edge method.


This is when you add an extra 1cm to the fabric length (instead of cutting it along the edge of the laminate panel). Attach a strip of double sided tape to the short edge of the laminate, then fold and stick it the fabric overlap on to the taped edge. This gives your outside seam a lovely covered, rounded, and neat edge (as opposed to a raw cut edge). Also see the Dannells blog tutorial for the folded seam edge here.

 

2. Using a matching colour thread to the fabric, thread a needle. Curved needles are ideal as the sewing stitches will following the curve of the lampshade, however if you use a long fine needle, it should be a little flexible and work just as well.

 

3. Starting at the top of your lampshade, place your needle under the outside seam edge and sew a small stitch up into the edge of the seam - this will hide the knot you have made at the end of the thread. Pull the thread through and sew a small stitch exactly opposite where the needle comes out - on the opposite side of the seam. Pull the thread through, it will tighten the seam.


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4. Now place the needle opposite where the needle has come out into the outer seam edge, and then slip the needle along inside the fold of the outer seam, around 1 cm along. Push the needle out, and then place it exactly opposite where it has come out and make a small stitch. Pull the thread through - you will not see your stitches. Repeat this all down the length of the seam.

 

5. At the end, make a small knot under the outer seam (so it is not visible) and cut away the excess thread.

 

6. When you have a double-sided lampshade, it is most likely that you have a raw edge on the inside seam. Sometimes these seams gape open, and although you can cover them with a strip of bias binding in matching fabric, at times it is still pushed apart. To ensure this doesn’t occur, follow the instructs above but this time just pick up a stitch within the fabric each side of the seam, ensuring that on the underside, the needle is slipped along underneath.


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The result of completing this technique is twofold: first - it is neat, second - you KNOW the seams won’t come apart!


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Jane Warren runs The Lampshade Loft, her small studio where she makes her handmade lampshades. She is the author of the book The Complete Guide to Making Lampshades






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