Crafting Project: New Life for Old Selkies

In 2022 I bought a Selkie Abbott Puff dress and altered it to fit in a way that is more flattering for me (click here to see that post).  Encouraged by the success of that project, I decided to tackle a few more problematic design features on my favorite Selkies including my Mucha Cottage Puff Dress (and click here for that one). 

  

At the end of each of those projects, I had a lot of left over (mostly organza) fabric.  Since the prints were so pretty, I decided to keep them in the hopes that one day I could use them on a different project.  As soon as I completed my first lampshade, (click here for that one) I knew exactly what I wanted to use all that extra lovely fabric for and the recent snow days presented me with plenty of time to sit down and really dig into the work.

I was gifted a pair of crystal globe lamps that had crumbling shades.  I removed the old shade outdoors so that the wind could carry away all the tiny crumbs. Then I wrapped the shades and selected four pretty ladies from the organza fabric of my Alphonse Mucha puff conversion and cut two of each.  

I spent so much time working on these shades, I developed callouses on my fingers.  And to be perfectly frank, because I am new to this game, the compositions aren't flowing naturally yet.  I spent a lot of time trying different fabrics and colors to see what looked best.  In the end I used an antique pink scarf topped with a floral applique for the center pieces to tie it all together and I am pleased with how this Mucha shade turned out.  

I'm going to put this little project under my home renovations tab although I don't intend to keep these shades for myself. I have recently inherited an abundance of antique lamps and fully intend to make new shades for them before gifting. I already have a taker for this set and look forward to blessing others from my abundance.