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The Complete Lampshade Course

Learn all the core skills in a fabulous four-day creative masterclass

 

Creating bespoke lampshades is one of the most challenging and rewarding interior crafts and a way of adding impressive and beautiful feature pieces to any room.​

 

This four-day specialist course has gained a reputation as one of the best ways for lampshade makers to learn a repertoire of skills to a professional level. Join lampshade maker, author of best-selling book Sewing Lampshades and teacher Joanna Heptinstall for a creative workshop concentrating on mastering the three main lampshade making techniques: tailored; gathered and pleated. ​

  

About the course

The Complete Lampshade Course is friendly, industrious and creative, and everyone is taught to a professional standard. Whether you are a beginner to sewing or professional soft furnisher, you will be encouraged develop your creative style, and will take home three impressive handmade shades and the skills to make many more. ​We have a maximum of 12 students and Joanna is supported by an additional lampshade tutor.​

Day one

We will begin with possibly the most useful technique, making a fitted cover for a tailored lampshade. You will learn core skills such as binding, stretching and pinning your cover to a perfect fit, hand stitching, and all-important pattern cutting skills. Students will get plenty of support at all stages.

Day two 

Once tailored shades have been fitted with a balloon lining and trimmed with braid, we'll move on to pleated lampshade making skills. This is a completely different technique and we'll begin with learning how to measure up your fabric. move on to hand pleating and stitching the fabric to the frame. Students will work on French drum shade.

Day three

The day begins with learning how to fit an informal pleated lining and finish with the lampshader maker's incredibly useful bias trimming. Once your pleated shade is complete we'll move on to gathered lampshades.

Day four

Our final day is spent finishing the gathered lampshade. Spacing the fabric, creating good tension and hand stitching will be the goal. This is a lovely informal technique and a super way to end the course. During this last day students will have the opportunity to photograph their work and buy frames and specialist sundries to take home to continue their lampsdhade making journey.

Masterclass intervals 

Throughout the course students receive short ‘masterclass technique’ sessions, where Joanna demonstrate advanced lampshade making skills, including: handmade frills, edges and detail; layering trimmings for creative impact; using dye to hand colour your own fabric and trimmings.

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Our aim is that you leave well equipped for many years of inspired lampshade making. With four days together, this course is great if you have a long way to travel.

Forthcoming dates

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