Easy Sewing Pattern: Hanging Lamp and Curtains

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By KT pdx

If you can sew a hem, you can make these simple projects.  They are a great way to coordinate a room, and you can use different fabrics for each season, changing the look of the room completely. 

Hanging Lamp

Supplies:

Sewing machine

Thread

Thin elastic

Hanging lamp frame, approx. 12-18" in diameter

Swag lamp kit (socket, chain, cord)

Crochet hook

1 1/2 yards cotton fabric 

Directions:

Cut selvedges off fabric. Fold down long edges 3" and press. Sew along the raw edge of the fabric (approx. 2 1/2" away from the new folded edge) so that you create a pocket for the elastic to go into. Repeat this along the other long edge. Fold fabric right sides together, and stitch short ends together, leaving the ends open for elastic. Tie elastic around the crochet hook and thread it through the tubes on the long ends. Untie from crochet hook when you have the ends free of the fabric. Turn right sides out and put around wire lamp form. Pull elastic tight around top of lamp form and tie a square knot. Pull elastic under bottom of lamp form until the desired shape and tie a square knot. Assemble lamp socket and attach bulb.

If desired, you can make a sleeve for the cord as well. 

Curtains

Supplies:

Curtain rod and assembly

A piece of fabric the width of your window plus 1/4 yard, and at least five inches more than the height of your window

Sewing machine

Thread

Directions:

Cut off selvedges from fabric. For split curtains, fold fabric in half lengthwise and cut on the fold. Hem all edges 1/4". Fold down 3" on top of curtain and press. Sew hemmed edge on top so that there is a tube to put the rod through. Fit rod through.

Repeat for the second half of the fabric.

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Comments

zina 2 years ago

can you please put up some amazing photos of patterns that will give me some ideas for skirts/clothing,curtains or even blankets/table cloths.

KT pdx profile image

KT pdx Hub Author 24 months ago

Thanks for stopping by, Zina! The basic curtain pattern I included on this hub can be tweaked a few different ways by adding appliques to your curtain fabric and/or sewing on ribbon stripes. You can also add another six inches onto the width, then do a simple hem on the top instead of the "tube", then do two parallel straight stitch lines (hem-stitch lines) three inches down from that and two inches apart, lengthwise, to create a ruffle at the top of the curtain and a pocket for the rod. Valances can be created the same way, just measuring the space between the lower curtain rod and the top of the window instead of the full window space and using that for the width of your fabric.

I've found great clothing patterns at garage sales for (literally) pennies. Look through your local newspaper classifieds under the garage sale ads, and see if any of them say that they have crafts and/or patterns for sale.

Table cloths are super-easy. Fabric usually comes in either 44/45", 54", or 60" wide. Any of these three widths are great pre-made widths for standard dining room & kitchen tables, or even for card tables. Say you know you want a regular cotton print. They usually come in 44/45" wide. You measure your table width, then subtract that from the fabric width. Write that number down, we'll call it "h". Measure the length of your table, then add "h". That is how much fabric you need of that particular width, so that the amount hanging down on each side is equal. Buy your fabric, cut off the selvages, and hem on all sides. There's your tablecloth!

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