We’ve had several emails enquiring about how we make our nuno felt lampshades. We thought perhaps others might like to try too, so here’s our own ‘recipe’.
(This type of lampshade needs familiarity with seamless 3-d shapes and nuno felt but if you’re just starting to make felt then you can make lampshades from flat felt – simply make a large piece of felt then cut panels to fit a lampshade frame and join them together imaginatively with bold stitching.)
Nuno Felt Lampshade
from scrim and merino wool top/roving
Cut a resist from plastic - the same shape as your wire frame (for example the resist for the lampshade in the photo resembled a bell shape), adding 10-20% for shrinkage (shrinkage very much depends on how thick you make your nuno felt).
Put scrim down as a first layer on both sides of the resist with just enough folded over to hold together.
Make three fine layers of wool on both sides of the resist, perhaps topping with a little silk then felt in the usual manner.
When the resist starts to buckle, make opening cuts across the top and bottom, remove the resist, smooth the sides then continue the felting process until the felt is firm.
Cover the lampshade frame with clingfilm - several tight layers - so that you almost have a solid form on which to work. Put your lampshade onto an old table lamp stand (or a 500ml water bottle, filled with water, and the top screwed back on to secure the lampshade in place) to elevate the shade from the work surface.
Place the felt onto the frame - it obviously won't fit too well at this point – but you will be able to see which part needs more shrinking by rolling. When it fits quite well, literally bash the felt until it shrinks to fit the frame (you could use the bowl of a wooden spoon) - remember the felt also shrinks a little when it dries.
After rinsing the soap out of the felt, put it back on the frame, tease it into shape and leave it to dry in a warm place.
You can fix the felt to the frame with bold stitching, and ornamentation is only limited by your imagination - this lampshade is decorated with 'flowers' made from circles of nuno felt and buttons.
