Sandy H. of Claremont, California, came up with this whimsical idea and it works beautifully, taking full advantage of the bias layout, ability to add non-fiber elements (beads, in this case) to the woven grid, and lacy patternwork. Lit and unlit, it’s an inspirational 3D tour-de force and makes me want to weave/sculpt something. Thank you, Sandy, for this fun entry!

No materials list is given, because the project is so variable, depending on your loom, fiber, and lampshade. Read Sandy’s notes that follow to come up with your own list.

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I named this piece after the children’s’ book, Pinkalicious, by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann. I was shooting for a funky, wonderful, controlled chaos look—the kind of lampshade that would be at Pippi Longstocking’s house.

Certainly one could make something more serious and elegant with the same technique by choosing tamer tone-on-tone colors and a cylindrical shade so no clever shaping would be required. Also, a larger lampshade made from a 4×4 or 6×6 loom would look more serious, I think. This one is very small—made from a 2×2 loom.

Weaving two types of squares, I auditioned different yarns and threads, as well as beads, in several combinations. I was looking for something open-weave enough that the light would highlight the textures and beads in an interesting way.

After sampling several patterned weaves, I finally settled on two as follows:
Square type #1: Beaded Rigby Weave. The first two wraps were with thicker yarn (DKish weight) and the second two were out of perle cotton. The third wrap included 49 seed beads distributed into each “window.” -7 / row X 7 rows. These were secured by the fourth (the weaving row).

Square type #2: Plain Weave out of perle cotton with a cube-shaped crystal bead woven into the center. I threaded thru the bead on the fourth and fifth pass of the first wrap and then also on the fourth pass of the third wrap (which was pretty much right down the center). The second wrap threads just found their place over and under the bead and the woven rows went over and under each thread as usual, the three threads that went thru the bead were just a little closer together.

I meant for the joined woven squares to be the lamp shade, but when I went looking for hardware, I found this sticky decorate-your-own lampshade first. (Editor note: self-adhesive lampshades available from from craft and hobby shops.) It had a paper label that peeled off like wax paper and revealed a thin, very sticky lampshade underneath. I shaped and stiffened my squares with spray stiffener and then decided to take advantage of the sticky shade and just stuck the individual squares on the shade to position them. I started with the middle row of type 2 squares. Five nice flat squares fit corner to corner around the shade.

Now comes the fun, make-it-fit, sculpting part: The remaining squares placed above this first row need to scrunch up narrower and taller because the circumference of the top of the shade is narrower than the middle. Yet they must fit in with the existing row of squares and in a checkerboard pattern as well.

Likewise, the remaining squares placed below this first row would have to scrunch down shorter and wider than that first row because the circumference of the lampshade is wider at the bottom than the middle.

Two squares exactly fit on the shade top to bottom on point, so the type 2 square with the crystal bead that made up the middle row around, needs two half-squares. (A stiffened square cut in half on the diagonal works fine) The right angle corner of one half-square will meet the top corner of the center block and the same corner of the other will meet the bottom corner of the center block. The cut edges will be flush (after trimming) with the top and bottom edges of the shade. The raw edges will be covered by the trim.

After all the stiffened squares and half-squares were fitted on there, I glued on the beaded trim. Then I joined them with the lacy join.

I stitched up and down the diagonal lines, hiding all of the ends in the ribbon trim. I placed my confidence in the stiffener and glue and didn’t tie any knots.

When it was all stitched, I sprayed it again with stiffener and made sure everything lay the way I wanted it to, including the bead fringe. I stiffened the fringe straight out for a gravity-defying continuation of the Pippi Longstocking theme. Also to make it look like a twirling skirt or a hat. I put the shade down on a piece of paper, making sure all the strings of beads were out and untangled and sprayed them well. When that was dry, I turned the lampshade over and did the same thing to the top. ENJOY!