Easy lamp shade slipcover tutorial, not one drip of glue

 a few years ago I shared on this blog how I slip cover my lamp shades .I thought maybe I should share the step by step process of how I do it , just in case you want to do it also.
Have you ever gone lamp shopping only to find a lamp base you love but you hate the shade or you love the shade but hate the base, well for a long time that was something I struggled with until I got the idea to slip cover a lamp shade.
                                                                   

 Using a drum shade is the easiest because of the straight sides but any lamp shade can be slip covered. When doing a cover for a traditional shade the slip cover will have many pieces to contour the shade. I cut out a strip of fabric the same width of the shade and cut it long enough to wrap around the shade as well to allow for seams.Add at least 2-3" of excess.

 I then cut 6 cm strips of a co-ordinating fabric to make the edging to cover the raw edges and to create a nice finished look.

 I iron the out edges into the middle as in the photo and then folded it in again to create a 1.5 cm wide binding type strip , you could also buy your own pre-made bias tape or better yet use the same fabric as is on your shade and cut strips out of that fabric on the diagonal and make your own custom bias tape

 I then moved onto sewing the shade slip, just pin it snugly around the shade and then remove to sew the seem closed. Do this step inside out.

 while sitting the shade on a flat surface trim any excess fabric from the edge to make the fabric even with the shade

 using your sewing machine sew the seam just slightly to the inside of the pins, this will create a snug or tight fitting shade cover that will simply look like a custom shade.

 press the seam with a hot iron to keep your project tidy and professional looking

 using pinking sheers trim down the seam allowance to about 1/2"

 pressing the seam before trimming it

 next I turn the fabric right side out and then I sew down the seam

 this step makes it look so tidy and well made

 next pin on your edging so that the trim fits right over the raw edge , pin in place and sew on to the slip

 close up

 I kept the seams to one spot and face this side of the shade to the back.

 I find this is a pretty simple sewing project that takes between 30-45 minutes , time well spent to get the perfect lamp shade

finished lamp shade slipcover

So here is the question , do you sew ? will you learn ? I can't imagine not sewing , I have made endless curtain panels , pillow covers and lamp shade covers over the years while decorating our apartments and homes.
I would suggest if you don't sew learn how to , it is a really handy skill.