Twisted Lycra Lamp

By: Mark Montano

Since the dawn of time wire hangers and stretchy fabric have gone together like Romeo and Juliet, like peanut butter and chocolate, like Crayons and coloring books. You get my point. I think this lamp looks a lot like what Martha Graham would have in her home. I love it with all of it’s twists and turns. One word of caution, yours will be totally different from mine because there is no way two of these can be the same!

Learn more about Mark and his new book Big Ass Book of Home Decor.

Twisted Lyrca Lamp

Materials:

1 yard of super stretchy Lycra or Spandex fabric
Sewing machine
3 wire hangers
6’ Socket and cord set
Needle and thread
Pliers
Straight pins

Instructions:

Unwind the 3 wire hangers so that they are just long pieces of wire.
Cut your Lycra/Spandex 20” by 36”.
Fold it in half, right sides together, and sew a 36” long tube out of your Lycra/Spandex. Turn it right side out.
Bend each wire hanger into an 18” diameter circle with the excess spiraling off.
Smoosh one wire circle and spiral inside the middle of the tube and the other two at each end with the circle part of the wire toward the mouth of each end of the tube.
Position the end wires so that there is 1” excess fabric. *This will be used to flip over and finish the edges later. Use your straight pins to keep all the wires in place.
With your needle and thread, stitch around the circle part of each wire only to keep in place so it doesn’t move inside of the tube.
Flip the 1” excess inside each mouth of your lamp and tack it down with the needle and thread. This hides the wire and gives it a nice finished feel.
Bend one of the end spiraling wires toward the top of the lamp so that it can wrap around the socket part of your socket and cord set and so that it keeps it in the center of your lamp and so the light bulb is not near the fabric at all.

*Since this lamp is so light it can easily hang from the socket and cord set. Just install a small hook and hang it up.

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shamasi1968

Jun 19, 2011

You could make this floor to ceiling and use as many hoops as you like. Really adorable.

suttlerachelga 107 5467

Jun 16, 2011

love the big ass decorating book and this lamp, cannot wait to make mine!

mjslesinski 173365 5

Jun 16, 2011

Am I missing something? Looking at the photo of the lamp, it looks like there are 5 irregularly shaped rings made from wire hangers.

Crafter 4873662

Jan 01, 2011

Hey Michigan Mom, have you been around a school yard lately. Relax, no one's making you or your kids buy the book or even look at it. The rest of us think the book is great. On a lighter note, the lamp looks great. One word of caution. Lycra and Spandex will melt from the heat of light bulbs. Try using the new bulbs, not as much heat but I would still test in a safe area before hanging it in the house.

joanne denison

Dec 31, 2010

Hey, what's with the problem about "big ass book"? didn't yeshua ride into town triumphantly on an ass? i thought it meant a donkey. am i naive? what else could that word possibly mean? in any case, I LOVED the lamp. one word of caution. do not use incandescent bulbs around fabric. Even the tiny ones can put off a lot of heat and catch some fabrics on fire. Use a standard socket and please, please, use a gas or neon spiral eco bulb for safety that is cool or only slightly warm to the touch. the best of cute and adorable home made products are no longer that when your house is ablazing'! love the lamp. great idea and take care

CandyCane45

Apr 24, 2010

This is too cool! I was going to be hanging nylon Chinese style lamps in my daughters' newly decorated bedroom but I think this lamp will have more impact because we get to choos the fabric. She's going to like it! Thanks for such a terrific idea.

Member 16106

Apr 05, 2010

I love this, brings back memories. I just made three of them, so easy.

Michigan Mom

Apr 04, 2010

What's with the vulgarity in the book title? I wouldn't want my kids to see that in my home or on my computer. It's not cute or amusing.