Mike and I found a floor lamp at Bed Bath and Beyond that was around 15 bucks because it had no shade. We brought it home and I decided to crochet a shade for it.
I started by crocheting a big circular sort of thing with a hole in the middle. I used Lion Cotton yarn. I alternated rounds of single and double crochet. On the single crochet rounds I increased the same way you would if you were going to make a crochet ball. When I was done it looked like this.
Next, I cooked up a stiffener. I used regular old cornstarch and water. I mixed about 8 tablespoons of starch into 2 cups of water and cooked it until it got thick, shiny, and translucent.
I poured the starch into a bowl and let it COOL DOWN (very important!!).
Then I threw my crocheted circle into the bowl of starch and worked the starch evenly into the cotton yarn with my hands.
Next, I rolled the crochet circle in a clean towel to get rid of the excess starch. When I was done it looked like this (it grew quite a bit).
Then I stretched the crocheted circle over a big bowl (covered with saran wrap) and let it dry.
Once the shade was dry, I attached it to the top of our lamp with the existing hardware and flipped the switch!
Absolutely love this!!!
You creative and talented lady, you!
Posted by: Heather | December 21, 2010 at 09:56 AM
Thanks Heather! Hope you are well. I'd love to see you over the holidays. Any plans to be in the city?
Posted by: Kara | December 21, 2010 at 08:11 PM
This looks so awesome and I too have a lamp that does not have a shade and it is an odd size which I can not replace. I was wondering if the heat from the light bulb has any negative effect on the shape of your shade ?
Posted by: Lynn Isaac | February 10, 2011 at 05:09 PM
Hi, this is a great idea.
I was just wondering if this lamp shade pattern was safe against the heat of the light bulb if lamp was on for several hours? Have you had any issues with it?
I usually use the equivalent of a 60 watt light bulb/ I usually use those energy bulbs or special bulbs that mimic sunlight in my lamp.
I can't do anything about the shade but by covering it up I thought I'd update its look.
Posted by: dsknouse | February 11, 2011 at 09:23 AM
Hi Lynn and dsknouse! Thanks for commenting on my lampshade. The lamp is in our bedroom so it's only on for a few hours a day. There are two 60 watt bulbs in the light fixture. So far it's been fine. I was worried it might yellow from the heat but so far so good!!! Thanks again for writing.
Posted by: Kara | February 11, 2011 at 11:38 AM
First I thought really, a crocheted lamp shade. .. but I'm going to try this for a lamp in my bedroom. Do the stitches create shadows? How interesting
Posted by: Catherine Schmitz | February 16, 2012 at 03:41 PM
I love this! You are very clever:-)..can you explain again how you increase in the sc rows?
'On the single crochet rounds I increased the same way you would if you were going to make a crochet ball'
not sure what that means...can you claify? thank you so much
Posted by: Suzette | February 16, 2012 at 08:15 PM
Hi Catherine. Yes, the light does make pretty shadows. It's kind of a soft checkerboard effect on the walls. I may someday make another one with some sort of lacy pattern that would really cast pretty shadows. Thanks for writing. I hope your shade turns out well. Kara
Posted by: Kara | March 14, 2012 at 12:47 AM
Hi Suzette. I believe I increased by 6 or 8 stitches evenly every other round. Sorry I'm not more precise than that. I should have written down the pattern as I went along. If I make another crocheted shade I will write down the pattern and post it on the blog. Take care and thanks for writing. Kara
Posted by: Kara | March 14, 2012 at 12:49 AM
Great idea i had done with ballons
I like this , I will try
Thanks a lot
Plese pint us with your projects
Posted by: AG artextil, alejandra Gutierrez | September 01, 2012 at 01:36 AM
Thank you, I found you on Pinterest and Pinned to my Crochet Board. I have an oil lamp and I can't find a shade. This will be perfect.
Posted by: Debi | October 07, 2012 at 07:17 PM
Thank you so much for the idea & the stiffening recipe! I am new to crocheting (but do a lot of other crafts) and I am completely LOVING IT!
I have an upward facing lamp in my craft room that I got at Goodwill. It also had no torchiere lamp shade, but I needed a lamp & it was cheap so I bought it. But I could never figure out how to make a shade for it. So I am so excited! I am going to do this! I will send a picture when I get it done (I'm not sure when that will be though so don't hold your breath!).
Thanks Again,
Aileen
Posted by: ImaCraftiMama | February 28, 2013 at 01:19 PM
I wanted to suggest that you might add the word "torchiere" or "upward facing" to your title. Such as, "Crocheted Upward Facing Lampshade" I think I would have checked it out sooner and it might clarify it or be more of a draw for others. Just a thought. =o )
Aileen
Posted by: ImaCraftiMama | February 28, 2013 at 01:25 PM
This is pretty cool! Thank you. I am sharing on my next post http://myprettybabi.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Francis | July 05, 2013 at 10:34 AM
This shade will be perfect for a floor lamp I have. The bulb is more than 60 watts, however. I will try to find one that is less than what I have. It's a special kind of bulb. Or I just won't light the lamp often. Anyway, it's perfect.
Posted by: Kate Porter | July 23, 2013 at 05:27 PM
I have a lamp just like this and my son's dog knocked it down and broke the lamp shade. I am going to try this.
My question for you is just do you remember how many you started it with? How many did you chain?
Can't wait to try it, just love the look of it!!
Posted by: Diane Perkinson | October 14, 2013 at 11:56 PM
Thanks so much all for the nice comments. Diane, I needed to leave a whole big enough for the light to go through so I just made a chain that fit around the size opening I needed, then attached the ends with a slip stitch. I don't remember exactly how many stitches I used and sadly, the shade was destroyed when we moved so I no longer have it to go back and count. I would guess that it was maybe 25 stitches. Good luck making your shade. Please send me a photo!
Posted by: Kara | October 23, 2013 at 11:21 AM
I know this was shared years ago but I just found it today when I needed it. I have crochet snow flakes my grandmother made for me at least 30 years ago at age 85. I decided I need to share them with my other sisters.I washed them and didn't now how to starch them stiff. I know my grandmother had used sugar water but the cornstarch & water sounds better and will not attract ants. Thanks
Posted by: Jimmy Wallace | November 18, 2016 at 01:45 PM
Thanks for sharing your crochet stiffening tips! See how I followed your advice in my latest blog post at www.trinamichellehouse.com
Posted by: Trina | December 04, 2016 at 04:32 AM
Hello! So glad to see another option for "stiffening crochet" instead of white glue and water... or white glue and water and a bit of flour! I made 3 large "doily lanterns" for a wedding shower... they were a huge hit... with mini lights dangling inside them... but after I brought them home... we had a lot of humidity hit... and hot temps... and they started to "implode" and droop! I was just sick! Now... I will experiment with your suggestion... because I have a bunch of people wanting some of these things! LOL Thanks so much! I'll have to let the starch really cool off... or it will break the balloon type forms!
Posted by: Cheryl Hartlen | July 14, 2017 at 10:17 PM