Lining a Handmade Victorian Shade

I'm working on a big victorian lampshade that has a separate crown. The outside fabric is on and I'm now trying to get the lining done. Handmaking these linings is not easy! It's a lot of fitting and refitting and pulling and resewing and refitting; it can get very frustrating doing these by hand. Someone somewhere did the original shades with some type of machine that easily stretched the fabric over the frame and it fit perfectly. Where are they! Ah well, I'll just keep plugging away at it and soon it will be a beautifully handmade, handsewn, and lined victorian lampshade for the customer. The crown in the picture is looking good. So that's what I've been working on for the last few weeks!

Antique Lamp Stash

. Antique Lamp Stash
Originally uploaded by shadescrafts

On one of our trips back home in the Adirondacks, my husband went garage saleing (I think he was bored) and he found this wonderful bounty of antique lamps from a lady who made lampshades (a woman after my own heart) and he bought the most victorian looking ones he could find.

They are in my attic at the moment because I need time to make the shades! So maybe I shouldn't be advertising for lampshade repairs for a while! lol! I'll post individual pictures of the lamps soon.

Dutchess Handmade Victorian lampshade

Someone has said that elegance doesn't exist any more; it passed with the Victorian age. I disagree. I'm still creating exquisite lampshades for old lamp bases. This one is called Dutchess and has white fabric shirred at every other rib, gimp trims, sugar beading over the roses in the windows and double fringe. I love hand sewing these shades. They do take hours and hours to make but are so worth it when they are finished. This one is for sale on my website: http://www.shades-etc.com. It comes with the lamp base. I can make just the shade for sale also.