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Usual lead times

A note about August
August, in Mireille's words

We close from the 1st to the 24th of August. The steam iron goes off, I go down to my sister's in the Drôme and I try very hard not to make anything with my hands for three weeks. If you post a frame to us during that time it is perfectly safe; it waits on the shelf by the door and it is the first thing I open when I'm back.

Mireille

These are the usual lead times, and the quote gives the real date for your shade. A new welded frame adds one week to any of them. The workshop also closes from 24 December to 2 January.

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New shades

A Shade Is Measured From the Lamp, Not the Catalogue

Every new shade starts with three numbers taken from your own lamp: the top ring, the bottom ring and the drop.

Take the old shade off, stand the lamp on a table and measure across the top ring, across the bottom ring and straight down between them. A photograph of the lamp with the shade off helps just as much, because the base decides how tall and how wide a shade can be before it looks wrong. Send the measurements and a photograph and a quote comes back within 3 working days.

Go straight to the prices
Fig. 5 · ElevationMeasuring a lamp
A lamp base in elevation with the outline of the shade to be made drawn dashed above it, and three dimension lines: the top ring, the bottom ring and the drop, with the drop marked in citron. Top ring 14 cm Bottom ring 30 cm Drop 22 cm Fitting Lamp base Measure the lamp with the old shade off
Fig. 5The top ring, the bottom ring and the drop, measured with the old shade off. The drop is the number people forget.

Six shapes

The Shapes Made Here

Each one opens to the sizes made, the fabrics that suit it and what it costs.

01DrumFrom €85

Straight sides, the same ring top and bottom. The plainest shape and the easiest to live with, on a tall base or a short one.

Sizes
15 to 60 cm across
Fabrics
Linen, cotton lawn, silk dupion, laminated card
Price
€85 to €120 recovered up to 30 cm, new from €180
02EmpireFrom €180

A small top ring and a wide bottom one, with straight sloping sides. The shape most inherited lamps were made for, and the one in Fig. 1 on the home page.

Sizes
30 to 45 cm base, larger for floor lamps
Fabrics
Linen, silk dupion, knife pleated silk
Price
€180 to €290 tailored, €360 to €540 pleated
03BellFrom €220

Curved sides that flare out at the bottom. It needs a frame with curved struts, and the fabric is cut in panels and eased to the curve, which is why it costs more than an empire of the same size.

Sizes
30 to 45 cm base
Fabrics
Silk dupion, cotton lawn
Price
€220 to €290 tailored
04CoolieFrom €180

A very small top and a very wide, shallow bottom, so the light falls down onto a table. It suits a low lamp by a chair.

Sizes
35 to 50 cm base
Fabrics
Linen, laminated card
Price
€180 to €260 tailored
05Square-corneredFrom €200

Four flat sides with crisp corners, straight or tapered. The corners are where a tailored shade shows its work, and each one is sewn by hand.

Sizes
25 to 45 cm across
Fabrics
Linen, silk dupion
Price
€200 to €290 tailored
06OvalFrom €200

An oval ring top and bottom, for a lamp that stands against a wall or on a narrow console. Oval frames are often bent to measure, which adds a week.

Sizes
30 to 45 cm on the long side
Fabrics
Linen, silk dupion, knife pleated silk
Price
€200 to €290 tailored, pleated on request
Fig. 6 · SwatchesFour cloths and their weaves
Four fabric swatches drawn as hairline rectangles with weave diagrams: plain linen in an even checker, silk dupion with uneven slubs across the threads, cotton lawn in a fine tight weave, and laminated card in section showing fabric, bond and card. Plain linen Silk dupion Cotton lawn Laminated card Fabric Bond Card
Fig. 6Linen and lawn are plain weaves at two scales; dupion has slubs, the thick spots in the thread that catch the light; card is laminated in three layers.

Fabrics

Linen, Silk, Cotton or Card

The cloth decides how the light comes through, so it is chosen with the lamp switched on.

Linen gives a warm, even glow and shows its weave when lit. Silk dupion has slubs in the thread that catch the light, and is the cloth for knife pleating. Cotton lawn is fine and smooth and lets the most light through. Laminated card is cloth bonded to a flame retardant card, for a crisp drum or coolie that keeps its shape for years.

You can also send your own fabric, from a length of old curtain to a scarf. Making up in your own fabric costs from €70 in labour, and a 40 cm shade needs at least 1.5 m. Where each cloth comes from is on the workshop page.

Fittings

Which Fitting Your Lamp Has

The fitting is the part of the frame that sits on the lamp, and it has to match the lamp exactly.

A duplex has a spider of wires and a washer eye that drops over a harp or the bulb holder. An E27 ring is a flat ring clamped under the bulb holder of a standard screw lamp. A clip-on grips the bulb itself and suits small candle bulbs. An UNO is a threaded ring that screws onto the holder, common on lamps from the 1960s and 1970s.

If you are not sure which one you have, a photograph from above with the old shade on usually tells. Changing the fitting on a frame costs €18. Rewiring and electrical repairs to lamp bases are not done here; Mireille will point you to an electrician nearby.

Fig. 7 · DetailsThe four fittings
The four fittings a shade can have, each drawn small: a duplex spider with a washer eye, a flat E27 ring that clamps under the bulb holder, a clip-on with two wire arms that grip the bulb, and a threaded UNO ring. Duplex E27 ring Clip-on UNO
Fig. 7Duplex, E27 ring, clip-on and UNO, each seen from just above the frame.

Every price

Prices

In euros, for a single shade. A quote within 3 working days gives the exact figure for yours.

New shades

  • Tailored empire or tapered shade30 to 45 cm base, sewn by hand with a balloon lining€180 to €290
  • Hand knife pleated silk30 to 45 cm base, lined€360 to €540
  • Floor lamp shade in linenOver 50 cm basefrom €290
  • Floor lamp shade in pleated silkOver 50 cm basefrom €620
  • Making up in your own fabricLabour only; at least 1.5 m for a 40 cm shadefrom €70

Frames and fittings

  • Recovering a drum or straight-sided frameUp to 30 cm across, in linen or cotton€85 to €120
  • Stripping, straightening and repainting a frameWith new cotton binding tape, depending on struts and damage€35 to €70
  • New frame bent and welded to measureBy a metalworker nearby, on top of the cover price€25 to €60
  • Changing a fittingDuplex, E27 ring, clip-on or UNO€18

Delivery

  • Collection from the workshopFree
  • Hand delivery within 25 km of LyonFriday afternoons; free on orders over €400€20
  • Double-boxed posting, mainland France€35 to €55
  • Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland€60 to €80

A 40% deposit is paid when the order is confirmed and is not refundable once the fabric has been cut. Nothing is promised in under 10 working days.

Next

Have a Frame Already?

An old frame that is still sound costs less to dress again than a new shade costs to make.