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Writer's pictureAisha

Alice: Madness Returns Lampshade

Hello darlings!


I've been meaning to make myself a new lampshade, and I've recently been inspired by various lampshade re-covering TikToks. But, of course, I have to have a theme to my lampshade so I chose the Alice: Madness Returns games.

I've always loved the aesthetic of the Alice games and I've wanted to make something based around them for ages.


I found a lampshade base in a charity shop that was just perfect; I wanted a classic shape that wasn't too over-the-top.

And the rough sketch of the design I'm going for.


Can you see my vision yet?

I started by removing the cover from the lampshade.

I kept a part of it as intact as possible so I could create a pattern template from it.


Then, following the tutorials that I had watched, I covered the wire structure in bias binding so I could sew my new cover onto it.


I'm using three different fabrics to cover this lampshade, some scrap white fabric that I'm going to dye an ombre red, scrap black and I purchased a black and white checkerboard fabric especially for this project.

I created the ombre by gradually diluting the paint as I went up- this is inspired by Alice's hysteria mode in the game.

I also spattered some black paint on the panels before fitting them to my lampshade. Bulldog clips were SO useful for this project. I just did a rough whipstitch to attach the covering to the fabric covered wiring- it doesn't matter if the stitches are rough as they're going to be covered by trimming at the very end.


And then, of course, I forgot to take photos.


BUT, fortunately, I still took videos! So don't mind from now on me using blurry video screenshots to illustrate my point, and watch the video if you want to know what's going on in more detail!

On the checkerboard fabric I distressed it using grey paint and a spattering of red.


Then for the bottom rim I decided I was going to add a quote (you guys know how much I love adding quotes to things). Initially, I was going to do this one:

But it was a little too long so I decided in the end to go with a quote from the unfortunate Dr Bumby:

'Memory is more often a curse than a blessing.'


I painted this onto scrap black fabric, tracing the lettering (inspired by TIm Burton's Alice in Wonderland font) with carbon paper and painting using fabric paint. I attached this in the same way as the top panels.

Now that all the panels were attached I could cover the seams in trim.

I used a glue gun and thin trim, starting at the vertical panels and finishing with the top and bottom edges.


OH, also, did you know that some lampshades can be transformed from floor lamps to ceiling lamps??

This mechanism was covered in paint, but I removed it and lifted it so it could become a ceiling lamp, which is what I wanted!

I bought a crystalline trim for the bottom of the lamp, representative of the vale of tears level in the game.


Now for the finishing touches!

I bought a pack of paper butterflies from eBay and added them to either side of the lampshade. When Alice dies in the game she turns into blue butterflies, so while this colour choice may seem incongruous it's thematically correct!

To some of the blank checkerboard I also added some symbols that are used throughout the game, mainly using the Mad Hatter's outfit for inspiration, and also using the 'keys' she uses to unlock her memories.


And voila! My Alice: Madness Returns inspired lampshade!





Have you made any nerd-inspired homeware? If so I'd love to see it!


Until next time,

Aisha x

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