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Margaret's Buildings is a lovely little
street well-worth visiting |
And now for something completely different! Homefront Interiors is a wonderful treasure-trove of a shop on Margaret’s Buildings, a
little pedestrian street at the quiet end of town, lined with fabulous
independent businesses. As well as selling all sorts of gorgeous decorative
pieces, textiles, furniture and jewellery (much of it sourced locally), there’s
also a space downstairs where owner Vanessa offers courses, and when she asked
if I’d like to pick one to review, the lampshade-making caught my eye. It’s
definitely something I’ve never done before and I was intrigued.
Prior to the course, you’re asked to purchase half a
metre of fabric to make your lampshade – which might sound like an extra cost,
but actually is really sensible as it means you can make sure the finished
product will go with the room you have in mind. I popped into one of my
favourite shops, the tiny overstuffed Green St Fabrics (full of exciting finds
and with lovely, helpful staff) and picked out some cotton in rich oranges and
reds.
The course itself was hosted by Sally Dove, a Bristol
artist, who also makes lampshades to sell and to commission, using her own
beautiful fabric designs – check out Sally Dove on Facebook. As she talked us
through the process, from lining the fabric with stiff PVC to hold its shape
(this bit had never occurred to me) to the nerve-wracking moment where you have
to roll it onto the two rings which form the top and the bottom, doing both at
once and trying not to go cross-eyed, Sally was creating her own lampshade,
which meant it was all really easy to follow. She was extremely kind and
patient, and we all ended up with something rather fabulous – my lampshade now
sits on my bedside table and I must admit, every time I look at it I feel proud
of how neat and professional it looks. This was a delightful thing to do and
you come away with a beautiful souvenir, so I can’t recommend it enough. Sally
also sells lampshade kits, if you want to have another go at home – and of
course, if you don’t fancy doing the hard work yourself, you can buy her
beautiful lampshades in the shop upstairs.
£48 pp for a three
hour course with tea and cake provided, including your own lampshade to take
away. For more information, visit the Homefront Interiors website.
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| My finished lampshade |
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| And the real deal, from the fabulous Sally Dove |
