Lamp Shades Made In The Home

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 211, 22 September 1937, Page 14

Lamp Shades Made In The Home

XT OME-MADE lampshades are as popular in Paris as home-made jumpers. Tlie French have always been fond of paper shades, so they are making them tg match the decorations on the walls. Ihe newest wallpaper has the effect of clear simple print, the pattern is small, the colours are distinct, and the ground is often white. A charming drawing-room, papered with what looked like white print spotted with little scarlet stars, had all the lampshades to match. The paper was

cirefully tacked over wire frames of different shapes and sizes, finished neatly at top and bottorh with gold braid, and the effect was delightful. Pink and violet paper print was used in a bedroom, and the lampshades to match were most effective. A long strip of wallpaper was bound top and bottom with violet ribbon which was pasted on, pressed with a cool iron, and left to dry. Then the strip was pleated like a fan and 'ironed, a thread of silk was run through the top to keep the pleats

JRT1STIC RESULTS \ in order, and the shade was put round a wire frame. Where it joined down the side it was held with large, very stiff bows of violet ribbon. This type of shade might be made from any kind of paper that shows a small pattern, and, according to colour, would be suitable for any room. Another kind of lampshade, fashionable in France at the moment, is the one of sprigged muslin used on a standard lamp. The material is sewn to the top of the wire frame and stretched tightly down, and the shade is very full, otherwise it would let too much light through. White muslin spotted with bright colours and bound top and bottom with some curious braid or ribbon is what is called "very French," and brings an old-fashioned touch into a room which is otherwise ultra - modern. Strangely enough, muslin lampshades blend with all kinds of furnishings. A pink organdie shade, decorated with gigantic organdie roses and finished with a green ribbon bow and streamers, produces a slight feeling of shock when first seen in company- with cold glass tables and black cocktail glasses, but after five minutes you think, "Wliy not?" It is a distinct proof that we still lean towards a little softness,' a little sentiment, and it is not unpleasant to refleet that perhaps absolute baldness had had its day and tHe romantic age is returning. Romance and baldness meet in the black and white lampshades. Romantic black silhouette of fauns, satyrs, dragons, fish such as were never seen in the sea, disport themselves on dead white paper. A flight of black swallows, or butterflies, or bats, wings its way over white silk, sketched in with waterproof paint or ink, and the shade is finished with a stiff bow of black and white ribbon, or a huge rosette of baby ribbon with little streamers falling anyhow. "Magic" Window Blinds. The maker calls them "magic" blinds becatrfee they shut out an unsightly view and replace a- dreary expanse of bricks and mortar with scenes of fairy charm. They do not obscure the light unduly, but the delicate materials merely conceal what is unpleasing. One of the most successful "magic curtains" is carried out in silky net, the colour ' of peach bloom, which sends a soft rosy glow into the room. The lower part is covered with a length of printed voile in prelty flower colours applique on with matching thread. On tlie upper part of the blind is a panel of light green net, the lower edge cut in different depths of curved scallops to represent drooping foliage as shown in the sketch. This, too, is applique on. Brown tree trunks are darned on 'the net, and curving "hills" are darned in behind the trees, just above the top of the daisy field. All perfectly straightforward and simple, but extremely effective and satisfying when finished. Plain outer hangings in any dark colour. to accord with the furnishing scheme, complete an attractive picture. There are other ways of carrying out the "magic curtain" idea. The great point to remember is to use fine fabrics, such as net, voile, or organdie, for tlie blind and its trimming; and to keep the shapes simple and well defined so that the finished effect is not fussy.