covering a lampshade

[fairychronicle]

Has anyone tried to cover lampshades (for table lamps) with fabric. I was thinking of using the fat quarters used for quilting and gluing on, overlappingthem as I go. Any ideas/tips would be great!

Make sure the material is flame resistant/fire proof or preferably use a low energy lamp that produces little to no heat, avoid standard filament and halogen lamps due to the heat they produce.

Are you thinking about the slightly conical ones ? Because you will need to shape the fabric first . Lay the shade on dome paper , mark the shade where you are beginning and then roll it back to the mark . You should end up with a fat arc shape . Cut it out and try it round the shade. Adjust . Then cut your fabric .

Dome paper ?? some.

There was an article on this very thing in a magazine that I bought yesterday.
("Homemaker" if you're interested).

They suggest preparing the lampshade to be covered by drawing around the frame - as suggested by trumpton - onto self-adhesive lampshade PVC. (Apparently the PVC creates the stiff backing for the fabric to be adhered to and is UV stable and flame retardant. I found it on line by googling lampshade PVC).
Remove the backing from the PVC and smooth the sticky side down onto your chosen material.

Cut out the fabric panels leaving a 2cm excess at the top and bottom edges.
Use double sided tape to cover the outer edges of the lampshade frame, working along all the struts and the top and bottom rings.
Remove the backing from the tape and carefully place your fabric panels in place.
Cut away any excess fabric from the frame.

Use decorative trim (our local Dunelm has a lovely selection of trims) to cover the joining seams between the fabric panels and add decorative fringing, or whatever you fancy, to the top and/or bottom edges of your lampshade.

I've never tried it myself but was tempted after I read the article.
I suspect it's one of those things that looks and sounds very simple but in reality is quite fiddly and could end up looking a bit rubbish (well it would if I did it as I have no patience).

I don't remove old cover so the fabric to recover can be any weight. But yes, quite agree with the article .But my way cheaper