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By: Mary Merda
Website: http://www.lamps-n-lighting.com
Jarrett, who began making the lampshades four
years ago, said she loves to do handwork and she
saw an ad in a magazine on making Victorian lampshades.
The first one took me about three days
to complete, Jarrett said. I realized
that making shades would take a great deal of
concentration, patience and time. But, they were
beautiful to look at and I decided to try a second
one on my own without a kit. I purchased my own
materials and trim and built it around an existing
lampshade frame. That one only took me two days.
My granddaughter had an antique floor lamp, and
she asked me to make her a shade. I gave her a
navy blue one trimmed with beads for Christmas.
The lampshades Jarrett makes are now more detailed
with pleats, rosettes, lace and sometimes, three
layers of fabric.
The actual time required for completion
depends on how much my hands hurt from stretching
fabric, she said. It takes all of
my strength, and I have to stop for a while until
the pain goes away. They have to be stretched
hard so that there are no puckers.
Driving back to Indiana for the summer, Mary
and her husband, Kenny, made several stops along
the way at antique shops. They collected dozens
of antique and collectible lamps for a few dollars
each. She planned to make a shade for each of
her eight grandchildren and three children. Ordinarily,
she orders frames for the lamp bases. Her husband
repairs them and checks the electrical connections.
My daughter, who is a talented seamstress,
suggested we pool our resources and work together
and try to sell our lampshades, Jarrett
said. We first tried a Web site designed
for us, but that wasn't very successful so we
gave our shades to a lamp and shade store in Fort
Wayne, Ind. A shop here in Stuart called Save
A Dollar also sells them and about 35 have been
sold to date. Costs vary from $25 to $225.
Jarrett, 68, sometimes gets so wound up in a
project she forgets to stop, and her husband will
come to her work table at about 2:30 a.m. and
drag her off to bed.
Sometimes, I just don't want to stop,
she says. I concentrate so hard I forget
what time it is.
Jarrett was born in Elwood, Ind., married her
husband after high school and settled down to
the life of a farmer's wife. I would drive
our tractor over the entire 1,200 acres we farmed,
she said. I would plow and work the ground
before planting. We also raised hogs. Feeding
and cleaning them was not the most pleasant part
of my daily chores.
Jarrett and her husband retired to Okeechobee
in 1995 and spend the winter months there. They
had been coming to Florida on vacations for more
than 25 years before retirement.
I can't just sit around and do nothing.
Retirement is just not for me. My great nephew
often tells us that we don't act our age... we
work too hard.
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