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ruffled chandy shades – tutorial

I don’t think I love you anymore. 
And, to be honest, I never loved you.

That’s the chandelier that came with the house.
It has never been replaced because I go back and forth about what I want to replace it with.  It’s been almost 2 years, and I’m still not sure.  So, a temporary fix was in order.
The hanging beads were what drove me the most insane so I knew those HAD to go.  I didn’t want to buy new shades because those darn things aren’t as cheap as I’d like them to be for something that’s just a temporary fix.
Here’s what I came up with.
Ruffled Chandy Shades

I was a little worried it would look too frou frou, but figured it had to be better than those beads!  Over the past few months (I did this a while ago) it has really grown on me and I’m no longer madly hunting down new lighting 😀
Here’s what you’ll need:
  • chandelier shades
  • fabric for the ruffles (the amount of fabric you need depends on the number of shades you have.  I had 8 shades and used about 1.5 yards of fabric)
  • sewing machine and thread
  • scissors
  • glue gun and glue
STEP ONE: If your shades have any embellishment hanging off the bottom like mine did, RIP IT OFF! 
STEP TWO: Determine how many rows of ruffles you want on your shade.  I wanted three rows.  My shades are 4.5 inches from top to bottom, so the width of my strips were 1.5 inches (1.5″ wide fabric strips x 3 rows = 4.5″ of ruffled fabulousness).   



STEP THREE: Snip and rip (yes, I said rip) your fabric!  This way you will have nicely frayed edges and it will eliminate the need for finishing the sides.  Added bonus – it’s way fun.  To do this so that the strips rip evenly you’ll want to rip along the grain of your fabric.  The fabric I used was cotton and the grain ran along the length of the selvedge.  I snipped every 1.5 inches (the width I wanted my ruffles to be) along the cut portion of my fabric, and then ripped the snips open and down the length of the selvedge.  Here’s a picture that might help explain.
STEP FOUR: Using a basting stitch on your sewing machine or the longest stitch length available (see your sewing machine’s manual if unsure) sew straight down the middle of your strip of fabric.  Make sure NOT to back stitch at the beginning or end, and leave your threads long at the beginning and end.  I used white thread just so you would be able to see the stitch in the picture.  Use a thread color that matches your fabric.
STEP FIVE:  Pull on one of the threads (whichever one is easiest to pull) and create the ruffles.  You can pull them as tight or loose as you like.  Keep in mind, the tighter the ruffles, the more fabric you will need.



STEP SIX: Using your glue gun, glue on your first strip of ruffles to the top of your chandelier shade.  Run your bead of glue onto the shade where the center seam of your ruffle will lay.  This way the top and bottom edges of the ruffle will lay away from the shade.  Cut any remaining length of fabric just past where you began gluing, fold the edge under, and glue down.  Do this for the remaining rows and remaining shades.  This picture shows the center seam of the ruffle glued to the shade.
STEP SEVEN: Enjoy your new chandelier shades!


And just because I can’t resist and good before and after
Ahhh… better!


Linking to:

The DIY Show Off

The Girl Creative
http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

 

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A Little Knick Knack

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Fancy This
 
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Comments

  1. HammBone says

    You are a creative genius…and you are my fave! MUAH! Give your angel hugs and kisses…if I close my eyes I can smell her sweet little noggin.

  2. Amy says

    Very cute! I am going to try this on a full lamp shade. All though the whole sewing maching thing I am not good with. Great job!

  9. Jodie says

    The shades are darling, what a great idea! I might try this on a small lampshade in my daughter's room. I'm a new follower.

  11. Karen says

    I love ruffles and your shades look gorgeous. I'm visiting from Whassup Wed. and am a new follower. Stop by and say hi I'd love it.

  12. Nicolette @ Momnivore's Dilemma says

    This really adds a lot of sophistication to that fixture. Wow. Love your damask curtains in the background as well! Where did you get them???

    Thanks for sharing this with my readers at Creative Juice Thursday!

    <3
    nicolette

  13. At The Picket Fence says

    Yay! You came over and linked this up! I was so excited to see your post pop up and these shades are just fabulous! I think they look like something that would cost mucho buckos in the Ballard designs catalog. Thank you so much for joining in the fun at Inspiration Friday this week and we hope to see much more of you in the future! 🙂
    Vanessa
    P.S. I have had soooo much fun reading through your other posts and getting to "know" you a bit better!

  17. Ann-Marie ~ Brambly says

    What a wonderful creation-you are very talented! Thank you for inspiring me to redo my daughter's shades.Come visit me at Brambly,I would love to hear from you. Take care.

    Ann-Marie

  23. [email protected] Banks says

    Just found your lovely blog! The shades are adorable! Ruffles are so fashionable right now. What a clever way to update a fixture on a dime! I'm your newest follower and would be delighted to have you follow me back.
    Have a great day!
    Tammy

  24. Dawn says

    Very cute idea. Love the ruffles. Nice way to jazz up a plain shade. Thanks for posting.
    I am your newest follower.
    Have a Great Day 🙂

  30. Denise at PinkPostcard. says

    great job!! this is such a nice modern update to the shades- and bonus that you like it so much to not have to replace the whole fixture!! Thanks for linking up to Transformations and Treasures!

  31. Jodi says

    So pretty, I really like the ruffles better! I found you on the blog swap @ Homemaker on a Dime.

    Jodi

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