Racy Lacy Net Curtain Lampshade

Net curtains and old standard lampshades are two things that scream 'Granny' in the world of interiors.  But what do you get itf you cross a net curtain with a horrible old lampshade?  A net curtain lampshade of course.  I'm calling it 'old folk's home chic!'  If you want to know how to make such a thing, please see below: 

For this project you need a hideous old lampshade, some old net curtains, scissors and a glue gun. 

1. I found this monstrosity in the local charity shop for the grand old price of 50p (a bit steep if you consider the state its in!).

2. Remove the existing fabric, this one had a outer fabric and a lining.  I tried to keep the outer fabric to use as a pattern for the new covering but it got a bit mangled in my excitement to get the nasty pink fabric off, so I used the lining fabric as a rough pattern guide.

 (lining fabric which I used as a pattern for the net curtain fabric.  I added a good inch all the way around the edge when I cut out the net curtain - sorry forgot to take a pic of the next few steps!).

Once the net curtain fabric is cut out, you need to sew the vertical edges together (about a cm from the edge).

Then turn the fabric the right way out and slip it over the lampshade carcass. As the net curtain fabric is a bit stretchy it is quite easy to get it to fit.

Starting with the top of the lampshade turn the edges over the lampshade carcass and, using the glue gun, attach the netting to the lampshade carcass.

Repeat the process with the bottom of the fabric on the lampshade (as seen below), pulling the fabric tight as you go.  Trim any excess fabric from the inside of the lampshade and you are done! 

I have since added some bright pom pom trim the bottom of my lamp to jazz it up a bit (will add photos when I get a minute!)

For more tutorials, workshops and surface pattern, please visit my website at http://www.bettyjoy.co.uk

Baby DIY

With a little bun in the oven of my own, I am starting to think about making some cute little clothes and baby accessories while I still have a bit of energy left and there is a tonne of inspiration and ideas on the internet, here are just a few.

Yikes! Aodrable baby booties from I Think Sew

Fitted crib sheet easy tutorial from Joanne Arbour 

'Cute as a button' button top tutorial by Shwin&Shwin

Yay!  A tutorial from Dana Made It for an easy skirt, and a cute one at that!

Lotta Jansdottir's book, Simple Sewing for baby has a lot of lovely simple patterns for baby, like this little swaddle blanket. 

Every baby needs a bib, find out how to make your own at Purlbee.  For your baby, not you, of course!

There is nothing cuter than a little bundle of joy in stripes.  Made by Rae shows you how to make your own

Apologies for going AWOL the last few months.  I was busy preparing for my wedding which was in July (tutorial posts to come) and also found out I was pregnant so been struggling with morning sickness which has thankfully now passed, with eveything going on the blog has been a little neglected, so as I was writing this post for my main blog, I thought I would copy it here and just to let you know I haven't gone for good!  

I have to make this!!

Doilies plus wallpaper paste plus glue = fantastic looking lightshade!!  Tutorial from the amazing dosfamily

New Bettyjoy website

Yay!!!! I finally got myself organised and got myself a new website with the help of my boyfriend (who designed it) and Applebox Designs (who did all the tech bit and the online design). There are workshops, tutorials, surface pattern design and more to have a gander at on there so go check it out the new Bettyjoy website here and let me know what you think.

Cute 'all year round' wreath

A wreath is not just for Christmas as this cute tutorial over at Curbly shows.  

Cabbage Rose stamp

Cute easy-peasy stamp idea from good ol' Martha Stewart

A little horse

What an adorable and simple idea from lightbluegrey.  Check out her tutorial here.  Unfortunately i don't have a child to make this for, maybe one for me to galavant about the house on??

Ribbon holder

If you have ribbons and bobbins lying about in a tangle looking unsightly, these ribbon holders will not only keep you organised but they make a really pretty creative statement.

Super sewing brooch

If you pine for people to describe you as 'a bit arty' and want to give off a 'creative' vibe then this is the brooch to flash about!  And when strangers stop you in the street to ask where you got that fine accessory, you can casually reply 'oh, this old thing? I made it'!

Crafty stamp

Super simple craft stamp which you can use to decorate wrapping paper, or envelopes & letters (if anyone out there is old school and still writes letters) and anything else lying about.

Bobbin picture holder

This project is super simple and requires no crafty skills whatsover but looks effortlessly cool!

Fabric boxes

Fabric boxes look great and can be used to hold a multitude of things.  I originally wrote this tutorial for Making Gifts magazine but thought I would share it here also.

These buckets make great storage solutions. You can use them to store smellies in the bathroom, socks and pants in the bedroom, crafts supplies in your studio or just put them on your shelves to pretty it up!.

The buckets are reversible, can be used with edge rolled up or down, depending on your mood and they can be stacked when not in use.

Tape brooch

A quick and easy accessory to make - perfect as a last minute gift too if you forgot to get one.

Primark scarves

Tip: Primark scarves are cheap and often come in very pretty pattern and can be cut up and re-hashed into new fabulous DIY projects.

Primark re-hash bracelet

link

This pretty bracelet gave me an idea for creating something similar of my own.  I have since seen quite a few similar designs, involved plaiting chain, fabric and strings of beads.  I recently bought a big load of scarves and cheap jewellery from Primark to cut up and rehash into new things and this bracelet was the first quick DIY project.

my version

Fabric covered bangles

materials

fabric covered bangles

There are 2 methods for making fabric bracelets, one involves wrapping fabric around the bracelet, the other involves gluing a strip of fabric onto a bracelet and folding the edges into the inside of the bracelet.

Fabric wrapped bracelet

This is a super quick and easy accessory to make, either as a gift or as a little something to set off your outfit.

More after the jump

Fabric covered beads

materials

finished fabric beads

Fabric covered beads are really pretty but they are expensive and previously I always thought if I made my own I needed to use a wooden bead as a base, which in itself is pretty dear if you plan on making more than a few.  Recently I came across these polystyrene balls of various sizes which they stock in John Lewis and online and thought that I could cover the polystyrene balls with fabric using a sort of decoupage method - I tried it and it works!

Isle be seeing you...

in all the old familiar places!!....Why not use an old vintage tea-towel to re-cover an old chair pad, like this one I made last summer, using one of my Grandma's tea towels featuring the Isle of Wight. I just lifted off the seat pad, drew around it directly onto the tea towel adding an extra 1 1/2 " all the way round, cut it out and used a staple gun to attach the new fabric to the underside and then put the pad back.

Belle Jar

I love bell jars, cloches or specimen jars, whatever you want to call them, I love them. But I cannot afford the pricey tag of an expensive bell jar, or a taxidermy crow which I would love to have inside one of my imaginary bell jars, so I looked online at DIY ways to make bell jars. Many people had used old domed carriage clock cases, removing the clock part and painting up the base of the clock, and that works really well, but I don't have a carriage clock and its raining hard today so I didn't want to traipse round the charity shops looking for one. I've been keeping lots of empty jars recently for various crafty projects and I was looking at an old pickled onion jar which was stacked upside down and thought it could make a sort of DIY version of a bell jar, which a bit of TLC. So I knocked up this little version. Its nowhere near as good as the real thing but it'll do for now, although I might make a couple more as collections often look better than single objects. (This afternoon, I was scrolling thru my blog and came back across this post, so my idea wasn't original after all, and they have a crow!)

Fabric Bangles

I love fabric covered bangles, but I can't justify spending over £10 on these, plus they always look better if you wear a couple at once, and that is easily £20 out of my near-empty purse. So I got a couple of charity shop plastic bangles for 50p each and re-fashioned them into something I'd be happy to wear on my wrist. All I did was cut a strip of pretty fabric slightly longer than the circumference of the bangle and twice as wide, then smothered the outside and inside of the bangle with PVA and stick the fabric onto it, tucking the edges into the inside of the bangle, then I gave the fabric another coat of PVA to seal it, left it to dry overnight and it was good to go.