Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I’ve seen pleated lampshades around a lot lately, even shared a guest tutorial for a beautiful method here! I hadn’t made one yet myself. When I did… I always like to try something new, so I combined the methods I’d seen on DIY tutorials on blogs and some tips I was able to gather from the pros, and came up with this no-sew pleated lampshade tutorial that will work on large or small lampshades, drum or empire shape!
After my huge success recovering a cheap blackout Roman shade for Lucy's room with some pretty block print fabric, I decided I need at least one more custom fabric shade! Our upstairs bathroom gets crazy sun in the afternoons and I knew I'd have to hang something pretty but also very functional there. (We renovated it last fall, and it's not a problem in the fall/winter.) The problem with my readymade blackout shade project? The cheap Roman shades only come in a couple lengths (like 60") and that window is short.
You can hang a too-long shade on a window and just leave a bunch of extra at the bottom... but it's not ideal. I ordered the right width of this Roman shade (around $50) and figured there must be a way to shorten it. Well, there is, and I'm sharing how!
I have a really wonderful tutorial to share with you today! Have you seen the pleated lampshade trend coming back strong?? Floral, plaid, colored, other beautiful fabrics on pleated lampshades are everywhere right now and looking so fresh in their own retro way. I’ve seen them running about $175 each though, so if you want the look you may want to DIY!
You definitely don’t have to be an expert at sewing to do this project. In fact you can fake it with probably no sewing experience! But there are a couple things that you can do with some basic sewing tools (and some slightly fancier ones) to make it easier on yourself and a much better product!
I’ve seen a couple different methods for pleated shades going around and Nancy's (@thehillsidehouse) is by far the best. If you read my blog or follow me on Instagram, you probably know how much I love Nancy. She has added so much rich color, texture, high-end detail, and personality to her new build home, and she does it all herself. She’s also an expert seamstress and great at sourcing fabrics! She doesn’t have a blog of her own so I asked her if she would do a guest tutorial on my blog (remember how we used to do those back in like 2010?). This is a great way for me to introduce others to Nancy, and I am so excited to shout this method!
I am really pumped about this project!!! After my successful spray adhesive/Indian block print cotton DIY Roman shade, I knew I could do this... it was even easier. I covered the shades of the sconces by our bed with a beautiful patterned cotton for a totally unique look!
Funnily, this is not the first time I've done this... in 2013 I did basically the same method on a thrifted lampshade and shared about it here, though I didn't show any step-by-step photos. Ha! This project is much cooler, anyway!
DIY fabric covered lampshade tutorial
You will need:
Lampshade(s) (I used the ones that came with these sconces)
That's it! Really short list! I did this outside with a helpful toddler playing in the mud and sand around me... not recommended. But it's nice to do it outside for ventilation and not getting spray adhesive mist on anything.
Possibly my favorite project of the year!!! though I started it in 2020 and just finished installing it now, so I'm not sure what year. I am SO happy with how this DIY custom fabric Roman shade came out!
I wanted to add pattern to Lucy's room but because the back wall is so small and has a pointed ceiling, there wasn't room for curtains and art, and curtains can look funny on unique windows anyway. I'm very particular about the pattern and color we bring in here and I didn't expect to find the right thing from a custom window treatment company (or want to pay for super custom).
So, I took an affordable fabric blackout Roman shade I found online (same as this one for more sizes) and covered it with the perfect Indian block print cotton. It was super fast, pretty easy (with a few tips I'll share below), and it turned out AWESOME and unique!!!
I have been meaning to do this project since last fall!! Quarantine energy kicked in, I guess, and I finally did this fun simple upholstery project. Full tutorial below!
It's here!! Back when I revealed our master bedroom project I did for the One Room Challenge I said I would share a full tutorial for how we made our slipcovered platform bed. That means plywood dimension options, staple gun tips, and of course sewing the headboard cover and bedskirt! Well, here it is--it's all in this post!
My first bell sleeve dress, and I found a new off-the-shoulder dress pattern that's much easier to wear! I was inspired by a dress I saw on Instagram last summer, and I love how mine turned out! Plus, I used a very cool double-layer organic cotton gauze and it is sooo soft and comfy!
Here's my inspiration! I thought this dress was so cute and different.
I actually wasn't looking for a flat-front off-the-shoulder dress pattern when I found Simplicity 8296, since I've been using ones that have elastic all the way around, but I think they were out of my size on the other one I wanted so I decided to try this one. And I love it!! It stays in place much better than the really loose elastic styles and I like the more fitted look!
I definitely modified this pattern as you can see in the summary below. I made the bias-cut sleeves just like the inspiration! They're just bias-cut rectangles, pleated with box pleats into the upper sleeve.
Organic Cotton Plus sent me this fabric and it's different than anything I've ever used. The double layer makes it perfect for dresses or more substantial tops since it's not too lightweight and not sheer at all.
Since last summer I've been picturing a lovely white striped linen wrap-look dress or romper, worn on a warm summer day with a bit of a breeze, and dappled shade. Well, I finally combined my inspirations and made myself one!
Here are some inspirations I've collected since last year.
Blue, white, stripes--some of my favorite elements this summer! I found the coolest blue and white stripe linen blend from Fabric.comand made this very summery, dramatic fitted jumpsuit!
It's finally getting to the time of year when I can wear a cute top out to dinner and not freeze! Maybe even a dress. I'm getting excited for summer sewing, and made myself this top to start it off!
Last summer I feel like the off-the-shoulder trend really kicked off, but it's still here and I'm glad, cause this style is really fun to make and wear!! There are quite a few cute patterns out there but last summer I made McCall's M6558 up several times (it's from 2012), and have learned some modifications to make it a little cuter and more current!
I am so excited for warm weather!!! Spring in Oregon is pretty hit or miss but when we have the nice days I get really happy and start thinking about berry picking, day trips to the beach, and wearing cute dresses on date nights.
Since moving to our fixer upper, my sewing room has been in some stage of packed-ness and I haven't had a lot of access to my patterns, fabric, and tools. But I did set up the machine to make these pillow covers and I do have some room to work. I got inspired for a transitional springy floral dress, and made this one up in only about 2.5 hours of sewing! (Cause I also don't have much time for sewing when there are bathrooms to renovate!)
It's the first sewing I've done since before we moved in October, and it was a total success!
I have a thing for pillows right now. I noticed a while back that so many of my home decor pins involved really fabulous pillows. Lots of "global" boho prints, shibori dyed ones, variations in texture and wear, mix and match rather than symmetrical... and lots of blues! Here are a few inspirations:
I'm a DIYer. You know this. When I can, I like to make things myself! But I don't have access to all these imported and vintage fabrics... but I still wanted to make my own. I wasn't sure I could find commercially available fabrics to get this look at all! But Fabric.com has tons of interesting home decor prints, and they sent me some to try out!
First I tested out my pillow forms to see how many pillows and of what sizes would fit. I decided these five were good!
I played with the fabric, folding it around the pillow forms to see which patterns worked best where. I learned this trick from a friend long ago who would buy new fabric for pillows every season or two. She took her pillows seriously! It really does help when doing more than one DIY pillow cover at once!
So I sewed them up, and voilà ! I added in a woven pillow from HomeGoods which mixes up the textures and scale of the patterns.
They pair fabulously with the vintage rug I recently found on Craigslist. Even though I picked out these fabrics months ago!
And they work well with the natural elements of our DIY leather ottoman, this basket, and our bamboo blinds.
After months of storing boxes and extra flooring, being largely ignored and in the way, our family room is finally becoming really cozy and pretty! We've started actually spending some time in here with the new rug and inviting, pillowed couch!
It's my birthday tomorrow!! I made myself a new top. I've always had fun picking out my outfit for my birthday or birthday party, and a BRIGHT color or print always seemed most appropriate. I remember one childhood birthday party in the park that involved a full-skirted dress with a white background and bright gumball-colored polka dots of varying sizes (ah, the 90's).
I've made several off-the-shoulder tops and a dress this summer (see them in the gallery here) and I just love the style! It makes even the simplest top interesting and outfit-making.
I seriously messed with the pattern, you guys. It's McCall's M7163 but last time I made that pattern the shirt was SO big I swam in it and ended up taking in the body and sleeves several inches to make it flattering. So this time I made it two sizes smaller than it called for, quite a few inches shorter, and with WAY smaller sleeves (particularly since I knew I would not be adding elastic in the shoulder areas, like the Anthro one).
Seriously, look how much I took out of the sleeves!
I also added some straps and only did the elastic in the front and back panels.
It turned out just like I pictured!!
I also was excited to wear it with my new Express mid-rise "jean leggings" which are not leggings at all but actually the most perfect-fitting normal, substantial jeans! As I shared on my Instagram the other day, I haven't bought jeans in multiple years so this was a big deal for me. I ordered them in a Short so the length was ankle rather than long enough to cuff like most of my jeans, and they're perfect!! They have just the right amount of stretch to fit my strong thighs, too, which is so hard to find in a lot of brands these days.
It's fun to make something SO different than anything else I've ever done before! I got out of my comfort zone of natural fiber neutrals with this bold print for the dress earlier this summer and now it worked well for this, too!
I sure do love summer dresses! This one's a little different than several recent ones because I had some fun with trim!
This sweet white crepe shift dress was inspired by this embroidered swing dress from LOFT, and I guess also by those beautiful, multi-colored embroidered yoke Mexican cotton ones. So pretty, and you could make one at home, but that's a lot of specialty embroidery! It would be quite a project. But I liked the simple design of the embroidery around the neck of the LOFT one and actually, I looked around and found quite a few with similar amounts and patterns of trim.
I figured, I have some cool patterned ribbon, I could shape it pretty similarly to the embroidery patterns. I just needed a yoked dress pattern. I dug out Simplicity 2896 (very old) and modified the shape of the yoke a bit. And I gave it a full lining instead of the facing the pattern called for, since the cotton crepe I used is so sheer.
It's not as complex or detailed as the pretty embroidery patterns, but I really like the amount of trim in this pattern and the colors! Very summery, right?? Perfect with espadrilles and my new favorite thing, a summery straw carry-all tote.
Made neckline more of a scoop neck, less of a boatneck
Gave dress a full lining instead of facing
Made it shorter
You know how sometimes you smell something and it reminds you of a place or time? I feel I should also disclose that I carefully placed all that ribbon while watching the Seinfeldvision episode of 30 Rock. I recently started rewatching as a fun escape during sewing time. So Tina Fey is partially responsible for this dress!
If you don't have time for sewing one yourself but love the soft, crepey, embroidery trim look, you can shop these similar ones below, some under $30. Also some great espadrille and tote options!!
