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    • Jun 10, 2021

#memadeshade May winner

The glorious weather has arrived adding a bright, light feeling to our days and as usual, we've been inundated with plenty of glorious shades.


May's #memadeshade Instagram competition winner, brings fun, frivolity and a bold pop of colour and who doesn't need a bit of that in their lives? Made by Kura and Mark of @the_warren_crew_at_52 from a gorgeous African wax fabric, the orange fringing was a subliminal 'Strictly' inspired addition. We love the scale and size of this print and how Kura has replicated the colours of the wall in the shade.


Busy renovating their amazing new home since last summer, The Warren Crew have won a £100 voucher to spend on Dannells more lampshade making kit!


Check out how they added the fringing in the clip below and learn more about the inspiration behind this month's winning #memadeshade in our Q&A with Kura below.


Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the creative things that you do?

I am a Company Director at a diversity specialist. I have always loved interiors. Growing up, my mum always had Ideal Home and Good Housekeeping magazines every month. She makes beautiful clothes, curtains, cushions - you name it and she can make it. We used to win book day outfit competitions because she made amazing outfits from scratch - Elma the Elephant, Little Bo Peep (with a layered circle skirt) and a Greek Goddess to name just a few. She also makes beautiful cakes.


She made my Senegalese traditional wedding dress. My interest in making things has definitely come from her and she will often say this kind of fabric would work best for this (including my lampshades). I've made our sofa cushions in our house, curtains (with help from my mum) and of course lampshades! Before the pandemic, my husband and I travelled a lot and that inspired a lot of our design. I have lived and worked in New York, Singapore, South Africa, Australia and travelled across the globe - Senegal, Japan, The Seychelles and Cuba being some of my favourite places. I am now based in South London.


Are you a newbie lampshade maker or have you made up a Needcraft Lampshade making kit before?

I am a newbie lampshade maker. I couldn't find what I wanted so decided to make my lampshades myself. I found your kits online and the lampshade that won your competition was the first I made. I have since made another with one of your kits which is a very different style and reupholstered a lampshade, having been inspired by your kits. I removed the tassels on the winning shade when we moved this to our bedroom.

What do you love about the shade you entered for the #memadeshade competition?

My father was born in Senegal and I always loved the bright fabrics he'd bring back with him or be sent when I was growing up. I fell in love even more when I went myself. I knew I wanted to use African wax print fabric on the first lampshade. Blue is my favourite colour and my husband and I love bold patterns. He wanted a bright orange wall in our house but I managed to get him to settle on spray painting a mirror and adding orange to my lampshade! He and his glue gun came in handy for adding the tassels! I love that the lampshade is a feature piece. I used your biggest kit (70cm) and ordered another smaller kit for the tassel insert.


What’s do you like most about the Needcraft lampshade making kits?

That they do exactly what they say they will! Simple to use and excellent instructions.


Any plans to make more lampshades?

I have already made two more. For now we don't have anywhere to put more but never say never!

May's most liked shades

There's some power in the flowers this month as all of our #mostlikedshades feature flowers of different styles. Here's how they described their own entries in the #memadeshade competition:


It’s all about the fine details on this print! 👀🌱


@emma_mckie_designs I was asked to make a botanical style lampshade to go in a clients living room to complement their natural design aesthetic. I used an olive/moss linen with gold ink, the contrast is quite subtle but looks lovely when caught in the light. What do you think? Should I make more for my shop?


@maggiemootextiles Hello everyone, I haven't posted much lately. I've been sewing other stuff and gardening. Here's some lampshades I made recently and they will be in my Etsy shop tomorrow. Its vintage Heals fabric, 'Indian Summer' designed by Jyoti Bhomik in the 1960s.@


@amelie_and_beau Happy Wednesday! Can the weeks go any quicker??!! @voyage_maison “Cirsuin” Damson Linen today.... simple, rustic, cosy. Available in the Etsy shop, the link is in the bio.


Give our #mostlikedshade makers a friendly follow on Instagra


Enter our #memadeshade competition


It's super simple to enter our #memadeshade Instagram competition. Just make a lampshade from any of our lampshade making kits and follow the steps below. And if you want to check out the hashtag #memadeshade for inspiration in advance, we've had over

500 shades enter since we started!


Here's a reminder of what to do...


  1. Simply take a picture of your proudest lampshade from one of our kits and enter on Instagram following the steps below:

  2. Follow @needcraft if you haven’t already

  3. Post an image of a lampshade you’ve made from an @needcraft lampshade making kit and tag with #memadeshade and the type of kit you used i.e 30cm Drum shade kits, Square kit etc.

  4. And any size and shape can be entered so display those drums shades, exhibit your empires and reveal your rectangles – any lampshade from one of our kits counts!

For full terms and conditions click here.


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