A Cultivated Nest

Helping You Manage Your Home and Life on a Budget

DIY Wintery White Sweater Lamp

By

I hope you are all keeping warm ! It’s been below 20 degrees in Atlanta for a while now, so I think winter is here! To bring a wintery yet cozy feel to my living room I’ve upcycled a couple of white sweaters from the thrift store into various home decor items (here’s my sweater covered flower pot) and I wanted to share with you one of my other repurpose projects. A DIY sweater covered lampshade. I think it really warms up my cozy reading corner!

Bring a cozy wintery feel into your decor with this DIY sweater covered lampshade project

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to Amazon and/or Etsy, which means that I may earn a small commission from some of the links in this post. Please see our Disclosure Page for more information.

This lampshade had a small hole and a bit of dirt from the move (next time we move I’ll box up all my lampshades) so it was a good candidate for this lampshade makeover. I first saw this idea at Beth @ Unskinny Boppy’s blog a year ago and fell in love with hers. I always had it in the back of my mind to try this project and I’m so glad I did since it was easy and I really love the results!

DIY sweater covered lampshade & knit pillow
Here’s how I made mine:

DIY Sweater Covered Lampshade

lampshade
sweater (mine was size medium but a small would probably work well too as long as you can stretch it over the lampshade)
scissors
glue gun

Directions:

How to cover a lampshade with a sweater

1. Pull the sweater over the lampshade

2. Cut off the sleeves which you can use  for other projects

3. Decide where you want the bottom of the sweater to fall. If your sweater is tight and you like the bottom of the sweater you can just line up the bottom of the sweater with the bottom of shade and call it a day. I didn’t like the way mine looked so I tucked the bottom of the sweater under the bottom of the lampshade.

How to cover a lampshade with a sweater for cozy wintery look

4. Trim off the excess material leave about 1/2 -1 inch of material because this will fold over the top rim

trim-sweater-to-cover-lampshade

5. Run some hot glue around the inside top edge of the shade and glue down your material and also along the inside bottom edge if  needed (which I did)

DIY sweater lampshade tutorial

You can use any color sweater – it doesn’t have to be white. But white does make the lamp  more usable.

Cozy winter corner with a sweater covered lampshade and sweater pillow.

I paired the sweater covered lampshade with a cozy sweater pillow that I picked up at Ikea.

I think the success of this project lies in finding a sweater with some interesting texture and design. I had another sweater that I tried first but the design was a bit flat so it didn’t look as cute as this one.

Like I said,  this is so easy it truly belongs in my Sweet & Simple Projects Series and I think it looks adorable for winter!

Have you ever upcycled an old sweater?

Don’t miss a post! Get this blog delivered by email every time I post.  Subscribe via email here

You may also like: Easy DIY Winter Scarf Wreath

Comments

  3. Kim says

    Well, aren’t you a clever girl! I think that you are right, the trick is in finding the right sweater! Yours looks like it was made for this project. Gorgeous! Pinning and then to check out your inspiration post. I want to see what kind of sweater she used!! 😉 Stay warm!

    • Manuela Williams says

      🙂 Thank you! Oh her’s is very cute. If you search pinterest you’ll find some where people used sweaters that aren’t white – very cute too!

  4. Ronny K. says

    Love the sweater lamp shade. A great way to re-purpose old sweaters. My practical side keeps nagging me about keeping them from getting too dusty though. I also love the sweater pillow. So would our two labs who have claimed the couch as theirs. LOL

    • Manuela Williams says

      Thank you! Yes, just do it! At least the shade – it’s super easy. The sweater pillow is a little more time involved (at least for me but then I don’t sew a lot).

  6. Melanie says

    That is seriously fantastic – love it! What will you do once winter is over though – will you cover the lampshade with another kind of fabric, or leave as is?

    • Manuela Williams says

      Hi Melanie,

      Thanks! I really love the way it looks. Once winter is over I will probably box up that shade. As I said, it had a hole in it and was dirty from the movers touching it with their dirty hands. But you could take the sweater off and cover it with something else if you didn’t use too much hot glue (like if you just dotted the glue). I think I saw someone did this project and just taped the sweater to the shade. That would make it easier to take off without damaging the shade.

  7. Robin says

    Who knew it could be so easy to cover a lampshade! Thank you so much for this tutorial. I have the perfect sweater to use and now I just need to pick up a lampshade. Love it.

  9. Heather Grow says

    I love your sweater lampshade. This was the perfect upcycled sweater to use. I just bought a red v-neck at the thrift shop last week. I’m thinking of covering a pillow with it.

    • Manuela Williams says

      Thank you! Sweater pillows are so cozy and look great for the winter – so definitely give it a try.

  11. Catherine says

    Hi Manuela!
    What a pretty lampshade! You make it look very easy. Great way to use a sweater that no longer fits or even a thrift store sweater… Well done!!
    Catherine

  12. Vickie says

    Holy cannoli! This project comes just in time for me! I was ready to throw out my old lampshade (we are preparing to sell our house) because it was getting dingy and, well, old looking. I can buy a sweater from my local thrift store for a whole lot less than a new lampshade will cost! Thank you so much for this inspiration!

    • Manuela Williams says

      Yes, this project will be perfect for you! Good luck with getting your house ready to sell. We sold ours last fall and I took about 4 months to prepare it to sell and it sold in 7 days! It’s so worth it to spend the time up front to get your house ready to be on the market.

  14. Heather says

    I’ve loved this project, but forgot it…so glad you posted this! Pinning so I don’t forget again! So glad to have found you at Inspiration Monday!!

  17. Maria says

    Oh I love this!!! And I love the sweater pillow, too! I’ve re-purposed sweaters for so many things too, and I love this idea! So pretty!

  18. Shirley Wood says

    LOVE this project and how cozy it makes the room feel. I have to find a sweater to do this with. Stopping by from Lou Lou girls. Please come over and share this with our readers at Merry Monday!

  23. Nici says

    This turned out great! Love the pattern in the sweater! I’d be thrilled if you shared this at my Creative Ways Link Party that just went live. Hope to see you there!
    Blessings,
    Nici

  24. Amberjane says

    I love this project Manuela and am going for a hunt in the thrift shop – Thanks for linking up to Pin Worthy Wednesday, I have pinned your post to the Pin Worthy Wednesday Pinterest Board.

  26. Sharon - Her Organized Chaos says

    I love this! It looks so classy! Now I want to run out to the thrift store to find some old sweaters! 🙂 Pinning. I would love if you linked this up to Totally Terrific Tuesday. It goes LIVE Monday’s at 9pm CST. Hope to see you there!

    Sharon
    herorganizedchaos.com

  28. Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life says

    Love this idea…it is absolutely genius! Now I need to go through my sweaters! Thanks for sharing it with us at #FoodieFriDIY…the party just opened and it caught my eye right away. I’ll be sharing it on my Facebook page tomorrow, and pinning as well!

    • Michelle says

      Just wanted to let you know that I loved this so much I’ll be featuring it at the party tonight…hope you can join us again! Sending lots of share love your way this morning! Hope you have a great day!

  30. Shelly -minettesmaze.blogspot.com/ says

    What a great project! Thanks for sharing with us on DIY Sunday Showcase! I pinned this to our talent board! And your project is my feature pick for the week! Come on over and check it out at 5pm today! Thats when the party starts.

    Have a great weekend!
    Shelly@minettesmaze

  31. Lou Lou Girls says

    You always bring the coolest things to our party! Thank you. Pinned and tweeted. We feel honored that you take the time to stop by our party. I hope to see you on Monday at 7 pm. We love to party with you! Happy Saturday! Lou Lou Girls

  33. bj says

    This is so adorable and I can’t wait to get to a thrift store and see if I can find something close to yours. I really LOVE this look and already have a white floor lamp, just needing a drum shade and a cute sweater. 🙂 Thanks for showing us how to do this.

  37. JEn says

    I have a lampshade in my family room that has a little hole in it – the kids were playing in here and knocked it over! This would be a perfect solution. Thanks for sharing.

Search the Archives

Popular Posts