You should also remove the old fabric if it’s a darker color than the fabric you’re using to recover the lampshade. If the original fabric is thick, keep in mind that light might have a hard time getting through 2 layers of fabric. If you’re covering a plastic lampshade liner, you don’t need to remove anything.
When you’re choosing your fabric, stick to thin fabric like cotton. You can also test the fabric by holding it up to a light and making sure enough comes through. Another thing to keep in mind is the pattern of your fabric. Drum and rectangular lampshades will look great in any fabric. Tapered lampshades look best in more randomized patterns.
The exact angle you need to draw for a tapered shade will vary depending on the size of the shade and the angle of the taper. As long as the ends of the top left and bottom left lines are connected, and the top right and bottom right lines are connected, the angle will be fine.
If the fabric is wrinkled, iron it before you lay it out. If the fabric is old or you’ve repurposed it from another project, consider washing it first.
If you’re worried about the template staying in place, you can use straight pins to secure the template to the fabric. Pin the template at the corners.
It is very important that you do this in a well-ventilated area, as spray adhesive can make you very ill if you breath in too much of it.
If you’re recovering a tapered shade, make sure you match the top of the shade to top of the fabric and the bottom of the shade to the bottom of the fabric. You don’t want to put the fabric on upside down! The edges of the shade should be parallel to the edges of the fabric, too, no matter the shape of your shade.
If you haven’t sprayed the adhesive to the edges of the fabric, that’s okay. Instead, use a hot glue gun to secure the edges to the inside of the lampshade.
Try to match the seam of the border to the seam of the fabric for an even look.
