How to Make Lamp Shades

Although cane has not many possibilities as a material for strong, useful basketry because it is too flexible, the candle shades or small lamp shades that can be made of it are attractive as well as useful. The variety of cane manufactured for finishing and sold by the name of "binder" is better for the purpose than even the widest width of weaving cane because it is thicker and stiffer. Binder comes in two widths. The wider is a little less than one-fourth of an inch, and it is this size that must be used for large lamp shades.

A lamp shade six inches high, three and three-quarters inches in diameter across the top, and twelve inches across the bottom, needs thirty strips of wide binder each twenty inches long. These are divided into five bundles of six strips to each bundle. Like cane, binder has a smooth, shiny side and a rough side. The strips in each bundle must be laid one on top of the other, rough side down, and then spread fan shape. A piece of raffia or strong, fine cord woven over the ends will keep the strips spread.

A and B represent the temporary tyings that hold the two bundles of six spokes each.

Here is a most important detail - the strips in each bundle must all spread fanwise in the same direction. If in the first bundle the strips were fanned with their top ends to the left and their lower ends to the right as the bundle was held vertically before the worker, the strips in the other bundle must be fanned in the same way.

When the five bundles are spread and secured with weaving the actual making of the shade may be started by slipping the lower end of the bottom strip of one bundle under the lower end of the second from the bottom strips of a second bundle. Suppose the bundles are labeled A and B, respectively, and their strips numbered from one to six, beginning at the top and working down. Strip 6 of bundle B must slip under strip 5 of bundle A. Strip 5, bundle B, must slip under strip 4, bundle A, and so on until all the strips in the two bundles have been interlaced. This slipping under once, however, will not be firm enough to hold while the third bundle is added to bundle B in the same way. Therefore it is necessary to interlace or weave the ends of bundles A and B further by passing each strip of bundle B over the next strip of bundle A. The diagram shows bundles A and B held together by interlacing in this way. The directions sound as if the making would be hard, but it really is not. All it requires is methodical treatment.

When the five bundles have been interlaced a closed circle will be the result. This is the small diameter of the shade and should be made the right size to put on the holder by pushing together the strips. The tying of each bundle that held the fan firm must be cut in order to push the strips together, and the five-growth centers should not be discernible when the circle is complete. A little water applied to the cane around the circle will prevent slipping and shifting of the strips.

The band of weaving that circles the shade near the top must now be made. It consists of three rows of triple weave, using the finest-size reed (No. oo) for weavers. It is woven over the strips of binder that point in one direction only. It does not make any difference which direction is chosen - the object is to have triple weave done over thirty spokes instead of sixty. The weaving would buckle if done over all of them. The small detail diagram shows how triple weave is done, After these rows are in the ends of the binder are again interlaced until their woven depth is five inches. Five rows of triple weave must then go in with the No. oo reed, but this time all of the ends of the interlaced strips are included as spokes. The shade is then ready for the border finish.

Triple Weave

The ends of the cane that extend below the five rows of triple weave must be cut; off close to the weaving. A piece of reed slightly less than one-quarter inch in diameter (No, 6) must be cut long enough to fit the inner circumference of the lower edge of the shade, allowing three inches for lap. Shaving the two ends of this reed to half its thickness for the space of the three inches will avoid a clumsy lapping. It is then bound in place against the inner edge of the shade with a piece of wide cane or binder that has been soaked until very pliable. The binding must include the two lower rows of triple weave each time it wraps the circumference reed. In this way the cut ends of the reed are held firmly between reed and weaving. If the wrapping-cane is pulled tight enough the border will never slip off. After binding the edge in one direction, a second binder worked the opposite way will make a crossed pattern on the edge, repeating the interlaced design of the body of the shade and making the border doubly tight.

Shaping the shade will probably give the most trouble. An inverted bowl used as a mold is an assistance, pr still better, a round, wooden chopping-bowl. The work may be tacked to the latter and so held in place while the weaving progresses. It is not necessary to have a bowl just the dimensions given here for the shade. With thirty strips for the interlacing spokes the lower diameter of the shade may vary as much as an inch beyond or below the twelve-inch diameter.

And next comes the lining. But before suggesting any ways and means for this, a few words about the wire frame to which it is fastened may be helpful. It consists of at least two circles of wire, one at the top circumference and one at the lower, with four or more brace wires between them. If the shade is large, or has a flat top, the frame should be assembled with more than two wire circles. There are specially constructed supports for kerosene, gas, or electric lamp shades. Most department stores carry the three kinds in stock or will order them.

Usually it is only in the larger cities that one finds firms that make a specialty of wire-work where frames will be made from given measurements. A florist who deals in floral pieces should be able to furnish the address of the nearest firm of this kind. In some department stores the lamp department will take orders for them. But any hardware dealer who does mending could make one if encouraged just a little.

All of the wires (except those of the attachment that holds the shade over the light) must be wrapped before the frame is covered with the lining material. The wrapping makes the wires less conspicuous and is a base to which the lining can be sewed. Dressmaker's silk binding-ribbon is best for wrapping, and should match the dominant color of the lining if possible.

Besides the usual China silk there is a variety of stuffs that are suitable for shade linings. There is chintz. A gay Oriental pattern on a black ground would be a particularly good choice for lining a shade made of brilliant red cane. Dye the cane before the shade is made, and use the dye pure. The natural color of the cane will gray the red enough, and will also give it a slight yellow tone. Among the dress goods one can find linings that are both unusual and inexpensive. Gingham with yellow and white half-inch checks made an effective lining in a brown-cane shade for an attic bedroom. It was taken on the bias so that the checks were diamonds, and repeated the figures made by the interlacing of the cane. And, by the way, the curtains for the two small windows at either end of the room were of the same stuff.

"Silk" mull, really a silk-and-cotton mixture, is good for small shades that need a thin lining. And then there are the stiff materials, both cloth and paper, such as kid cambric (a calendared cotton cloth), wallpaper, Japanese paper cloth, and pineapple tissue.

Thin materials are applied over the wire frame in half-inch-deep folds. The folds are slightly less than that width at the wide circumference, and gradually get deeper toward the top of the frame, where the circumference is narrower. The top and bottom edges of the lining are turned over the wires and sewed down.

When using stiff materials the lining must be made in fitted sections, and the seams of the sections should be planned to fall over the vertical brace wires of the frame, so that the former can be slip-stitched to the wrapping of the latter. The sections of a paper lining can be lapped and pasted. It is possible to join kid cambric with paste, too. Both cloth and paper linings must be lapped over the top and bottom circle wires and sewed or pasted in place.

Although the inside of the lined shade does not show much, it is customary among the best interior decorators to back the inner surface of the covered wire frame. This backing, usually thin China silk, is always fitted in smooth, with as few sections as possible. The side seams are turned under and slip-stitched to the wire wrappings, and the top and bottom are turned down and slip-stitched to the outer lining. Besides being a finish, the backing is also an opportunity to modify the color of a shade when lighted; for instance, the black chintz suggested above may supplement a color scheme effectively by day, but it would cast a gloom at night. If the shade were backed with a strong yellow China silk this would be changed to a mellow light.

This way of making a shade out of cane is only one of a number of possible ways. If it is for an electric light, no opening at the top is necessary and % basket center may be used at the start. Then the shade is simply an inverted bowl-shaped basket, and is easier to make than the one for which directions are given. The side must not be woven its entire depth, else the light would be shaded too much. Only enough weaving to hold the center and another band just above the border are necessary.

Attractive shades for the bungalow porch lights can be made on the basket plan with ease.

Continue: Coiled Basket Making.