DIY in 1 Hour or Less | Removeable Jersey Lampshade cover

Today I'm sharing another DIY in 1 hour or less! A removable lampshade cover is the perfect solution if your current lampshade doesn't work with your room, but you want a quick and cheap temporary solution.   

When we took pictures for our final CWTS project, we had to get all new accessories (since photos were submitted anonymously), including a lamp because every bed needs light. Not only is it practical, it helps add height to your nightstand, which helps balance the height of the headboard. We had to return the light that we used (we kept a lot of things that we used too) and make our existing lamp work.

Instead of buying a new shade I decided to make a removable lampshade cover that wouldn't damage the shade, in case I decide to use it again.

Jersey is the perfect solution - especially for a tapered shade because it stretches and conforms to the lampshade. It is also great because it requires minimal sewing - only on the connecting end. The top and bottom don't need to be sewn since it doesn't fray.

It is translucent, so white wasn't the easiest choice, but I'll explain how I fixed that in a little. 

 Here's how I did it!

1. I measured around my lampshade (about the center but closer to the top) and calculated the amount of fabric I would need. ~46" to go around the shade and since the height was 10" I would need about 11"-12" for each layer. For 2 shades (3 layers of jersey each) I purchased 2.5 yards and had some left over.

2. I cut 3 - 46" long and 12" high (to be safe) sections. I wrapped one layer of jersey around the shade, pulled somewhat tight and pinched the top (on the line where I would sew), and pinned in on the top and bottom. 

** Once cut, the jersey curls one way, when I was pinning, I made sure that the curl would go in the inside (on outside while sewing and then flip so it's on the inside) so it would curl around the inside of the lampshade. 

 

 3. After doing a normal stitch and it bunching because of the stretch, I tore out the stitch, looked online and found that the stitch has to zig zag. I put my sewing machine on the zig zag setting (#3) and started sewing (make sure not to back stitch, I had to start over one more time...)

** I did slightly taper my stitch so that it was a little wider at the bottom. The jersey is pretty forgiving and will stretch, so this probably wasn't necessary. Getting it tight at the top is the most important and then it stretches a little more at the bottom.

4. I sewed one line and cut off the extra fabric. So easy, once I figured out the right settings!

I put the seam of the cover on the seam of the lampshade and then repeated so I had three individual layers. I decided to do the layers separately since it was easier to sew that way (at least for me :)

After the third layer, you could still see through to the shade underneath. I decided that a thin piece of white paper (like normal printer paper) would work well underneath the jersey to hide the pattern.  Since the shade is tapered, a large piece of paper would be needed to get one continuous strip. I didn't have any on hand, so I placed a layer of paper towels between the lampshade and the jersey. I couldn't get it out of the height of the paper towel, so they are layered and taped inside. It isn't pretty, but the layers of jersey smooth it out.

Super easy!

The jersey hugs the inside lip of the lampshade perfectly! 

The hydrangeas from last weekend still look great!

We are using our Ikea Lack upholstered tables temporarily until we built new nightstands that won't hide the grasscloth + nailhead feature wall.  They aren't perfect in the space, but they will work for now!

I purchased the jersey from Fabric.com -  it looks like the exact fabric is no longer available, here is the gray version. 

This is such an easy way to (temporarily) update a lampshade! I may add a ribbon trim a little later, but for now I'm loving the white.

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I spent all day in the garage yesterday, and I'm almost finished our round table ... photos soon!!!