Modernizing a Vintage Lamp

Do you remember this lamp I found last year at a yardsale for $5?? Well, it's been sitting around, waiting for me to get inspired to do something with it. And finally this week, the inspiration hit and I went with it. I have no idea what the age of this lamp is, I would say probably the 50's or 60's? Anyone want to guess? As much as I like drum shades, this one was a little TOO large, so I knew I needed to find something a little more proportional to the lamp, something just a little smaller.

So off to the Junk Store I told you about last summer. Remember that place? It's a treasure trove of old and dated things, but I remembered seeing lots of vintage style lampshades in there, so maybe I'd get lucky and find one. I did, this one was $2. I knew I'd recover it anyway, so I was only looking at size and something sturdy. This one had seen better days. The metal frame was half showing around the top where the old paper had given way. I ended up having to take the frame out anyway and bend it to where I needed it to be. It sat way too low down in the shade to work with my lamp.
So, I took it out, bent the arms until I had the circle sitting just where it needed to be to hit the lamp in the right spot. I wasn't sure how this little trick would work, but I figured for $2, I wouldn't be out much and it was worth a shot. Luckily, it worked! I ripped all the old binding seam off from the top and bottom, so I'd have a smooth shade to work with. The frame fit back in there tightly and I knew it would be fine as I added my new fabric on there. The only caution on bending a frame like this, it can start to lose it's round shape, so I had to work with this one a little to make sure it was still round & would fit back inside the shade. Then I went out to Hancock Fabrics to see what inspiration would hit me. I have long been attracted to these newly inspired damask fabrics that have been out the last few years and really wanted to use one somewhere, maybe a pillow or another spot. So, this was the perfect time to go for it, a lampshade was a great place to highlight this fabric. They even had a 40% off sale when I went, so got the fabric and trim on sale. You know how I like those sales! Fabric and trim cost $12 total. This fabric is so neat, it's a pretty oatmeal colored linen with black flocked damask pattern on it. Really perfect for covering an old lampshade, because it's thick enough to lay smooth and hide any imperfections. Easy to work with.

Got out my 3M spray adhesive. This stuff works great. I took the shade outside and sprayed it heavily with the adhesive, so the whole shade was sticky and ready for the fabric. I only got 1/2 yard of fabric for this project and it was plenty enough to tuck under and over on the top and bottom of the shade. Remember my shade tutorial awhile back? I laid the shade down about an inch and 1/2 down from the top of the fabric. You have to allow for the shade to roll across the fabric. It will go somewhat at an angle and that's what you want for the fabric to lay smoothly on the shade. Even though this is a drum shaped shade, there is still a curve to it when I laid it down on the fabric. So, you allow for this curve as you are rolling the shade down the fabric to have it join on the backside. This is where your fabric seam will go. You can see there is about 1 1/2 to 2" on each end of the fabric to tuck under. I did iron the seams on both sides so that it will lay flat when glued down.
Now, I did get out my glue gun too and used it to hold down the fabric as I tucked in under on the top and bottom of the shade. It dries fast and really holds it in place. Used a little from the glue gun too on the back seams to keep them flat. Finally, I was ready for the trim to go on the top and bottom of the shade. This gives it a great finished look. I used my Fabri-Tac fabric glue on this. It's also a great glue to use for a project like this.
Ta-da!! Here's the finished lamp! I am SO proud of it. I think it looks like a million bucks now. Total cost = $19! You just can't beat that for a trash to treasure look.
I absolutely love this fabric. It's a perfect punch as you come in our frontdoor to draw the eye in.

Here's the base of the lamp, crystal on a black marble base. It's heavy and quite a substantial lamp.
Lampshade closer.

(1st pic, without flash, 2nd with flash)

Hope y'all will be inspired to try something like this too. You never know when that next vintage find will come along. Don't be too quick to pass it over. Think about the possibilities and what you can do to make it personalized for YOUR home!

On another note, my digital camera has decided to die on me, the flash has quit working, so I have just ordered a new Canon online. Can't wait to get it & look forward to playing around with some new pics. It's got a few more bells & whistles than my old one, so I should have some fun with it.