Hawthorn Shades was established 6 years ago, selling handmade lampshades, each personally made and packed by Penny working from her garden studio in rural Lincolnshire.

She uses quality natural fabrics with predominantly, a botanical/floral theme plus a complementary range of soft, washed linen colours. Having a background in textiles, Penny has a good eye for design and colour, and her love of nature is evident in the range of prints she has chosen to work with. She seeks out well designed, printed linen and cotton fabrics that are influenced by the natural world - from hedgerows and wildflower meadows to gardens and coastal themes, both contemporary and vintage - to create shades that complement many interior styles.  If you are looking for a lampshade to suit a traditional, country, modern, cottage or cabin interior or just a lampshade with a quality finish, you have come to the right shop.

Her business grew out of a need to find lampshades for her own home - to add the finishing touch to her cottage renovation and decorating schemes. Not wanting to make do with something “off the shelf” or have the same as someone else, she decided to have a go at making shades herself. After making a few, enjoying the process and being so pleased with the results she decided to make them for sale alongside her curtain and blind making service at the time. They sold so well, that they have become her sole focus, selling initially through Etsy but now also through this website.

It is very satisfying to top a lamp, whether new or old with a beautiful shade or hang a ceiling pendant that brings a colour scheme together. It is very important to Penny that what she makes is both beautiful and useful, she takes pride in creating a professionally finished product that will stand the test of time. Rims are neatly rolled and the seams glued rather than taped, this is a process that takes a little longer, but so worth it, (no gaping seams after a couple of years with these shades).

With a few exceptions, all lampshades are made to order in a variety of sizes from 15cm - 40cm diameter, mostly drum shape (but also tapered ‘French drum’ shapes and larger sizes to commission) for table lamps, floor/standard lamps and ceiling pendant lights. Note, fashions change but the round, cylinder or drum is much less wasteful of materials and thus is her preferred shape.

You can commission a bespoke lampshade of a different shape or size, or one made using your own fabric. She also supplies artisan lamp makers and interior designers and considers vintage shade recover and repair, each job assessed individually.

The same attention to detail is used to sew a small range of bags and wellbeing gift items – tote and crossbody bags, wheat packs, meditation eye pillows, lavender sachets and cards. These items use up smaller pieces of fabric to prevent waste and again create something gorgeous and practical. Currently these are mostly available along with ‘one of a kind’ and sale items, through www.hawthornshades.etsy.com

Every endeavour is made to be as environmentally friendly as possible, sourcing natural fabrics, preferring linen as its production is more sustainable, all the plain linens used are Oeko Tex certified. She sources small pieces of designer fabric and good vintage finds, as well as buying from larger UK suppliers, off the roll. Many of these are printed to order using pigment dyes which is more eco-friendly too. A UK supplier is used for metal components and PVC lining, and bulk ordering is done wherever possible. Waste is kept to a minimum. Eco packaging boxes and void fill is used and on occasion, reused clean bubble wrap/backing paper.

Customer service is paramount to Penny, she has been selling successfully through Etsy and has consistently reached ‘Star Seller’ status, this means excellent scores for message response, on time dispatch and 5-star reviews. She also has a growing number of reviews on this site too, all received with much appreciation, thank you.