Finally - The Ruffled Lampshade Tutorial, Some More Pictures of Lillie's Room and a Giveaway at Forty Toes

Whew! My internet is finally working again. It started acting up Monday and would work for a few minutes and then cut off. I was able to get some things done but didn't get to finish this blog post because blogger wasn't loading at all and only got through a few e-mails and convos because it kept cutting out on me. Then when I came downstairs last night after putting Lillie down I couldn't get online at all - arghhhhh! I had so much to do and wasted over two and a half hours trying to "fix" it but finally just gave up. I found out, though, it wasn't just our internet so at least I feel better knowing I didn't do anything to mess it up. Anyway, it just now finally came back on - yay! I am praying it will stay on long enough for me to quickly get this post up and then focus on printing all of the shipping labels that I would have printed last night and maybe even start in on e-mails before Lillie wakes up. That might be pushing my luck, though! =) As always I was horribly behind on e-mails, convos, etc. and two days with little to no internet access just pushed me back further so please bear with me and I will try to get back to everyone as soon as I can.

Here is the first ruffled lampshade I did for the nursery a couple of weeks ago. I did it spur of the moment without any real plan but liked how it turned out so ended up making a couple more. This one is still my favorite, though! To see more photos of the nursery click here.

And here is the one I made for our master bedroom.

To see more photos of that room click here.

And here is the one I made Sunday evening for Lillie's room. This one is just temporary, though as I really want to make one like this for her room so as soon as I have some time. This one was made ridiculously quick and I made a couple of mistakes on it but, oh well. Here it is:

Here is what you need:

ruler

scissors

glue gun

sewing machine OR needle and thread

a lampshade (I am a big fan of drum shaped shades)

fabric (for all three of mine I used extra fabric from other projects so it was free!)

1) First measure your shade. Mine was nine inches high.

2). Now divide that by three if you want to do a shade with three ruffles. (If you want to do more just adjust). Once you have divided it by three (which for mine was 3") add 1" to that number for the width of each strip of fabric you will cut. This is where I messed up on making Lillie's. I couldn't remember if I had added 1/2" to each strip or 1" to each when I had made the other two. That's what happens when you have pregnancy brain. I made both of those other shades just a couple of weeks ago so I should have been able to remember. I decided to go with 1/2" and when the time came to glue it onto the shade was kicking myself because it definitely was 1"! Now start cutting three long strips. Because I was just using fabric that I already had I cut it the longest way I possibly could. I didn't end up having enough to go around though once it was ruffled so I ended up needing another one and a half strips to add to the ruffles. I recommend starting with three but you may need to cut more. Also, I did not hem these but wish I had of. I love the frayed look of the fabric on the one in the nursery because I think it helps dress it down a bit but don't really like the frayed look as much in Lillie's room. If you are going to want to hem each ruffle than make sure to add a little more so you have room to hem them down to 4".

3) Next I started sewing. Here are the settings I put my machine at

so it would "ruffle" the fabric for me.

4). Then I just started at the top and stitched down the middle of each strip!

***** Note: You do NOT need a sewing machine for this project. You can simply hand stitch a straight line down the middle as well and then pull the thread once you get to the end and "ruffle" the fabric yourself. Or if you do have a sewing machine but can't get this to work you can just set the stitch to the longest possible setting (seven on mine) and when you get to the end just pull the string and ruffle it yourself. It is a bit embarrassing to admit but I owned this sewing machine for FOUR years before I figured out it ruffled on it's own. I used to just sew with it on seven and ruffle it myself. Also, I have been asked several times if I have a special "foot" or anything else that I add to my machine to make it ruffle. No, I don't. I just put the settings as shown above and sew away.

As with just about all house projects, my little helper felt the need to be very involved so she got to do her special part of "pushing the pedal" to make the machine go! She's actually getting pretty good at it. When I first started letting her help me back in November when we made those Silent Night pillows it was a VERY bumpy ride =).

5). Now it's time to glue. I didn't use a ton of glue for any of these lampshades because I always love trying new projects and know that in a few months I may want to do something new with them so I used the glue sparingly so I could easily pull the fabric off.

6) I started with the middle ruffle because then it was easier to make sure it looked uniform on the top and bottom. I think I used about 4 or 5 drops of glue on my way around the shade and then just pressed the fabric down onto it.

7) Now add the top ruffle and bottom ruffle and that's it! You are done!

We also added the mirror in here a couple of weeks ago when we started switching everything around for the nursery and I stole the frame that was in here (that was way too small!) and put it in the nursery and we moved the mirror in here.

I also added the pictures to the empty wall next to the bed Lillie sleeps in so her room is now officially done except for one thing I want to do with the window seat area, but that is below about ten other projects on my list so it may be a while before I get to it.

If you want to see the rest of Lillie's big girl room click here.

On another note, our friend, Jenn is hosting a HUGE giveaway on her blog Forty Toes for over $1000 worth of items, including our Je T'aime Dress! She is one the sweetest people in the world and has four of the most beautiful children I have ever seen. I have written about her here on our blog before as she has become such a sweet friend and is so talented. Here are a few photos by her of her gorgeous little girl, Stella Marie: