What do you do in soft furnishings?

We make the lampshades, cushion covers, blinds, curtains and table linen at Jim Lawrence. We're generally in by 8.30 for our daily production meeting where we prioritise the day’s jobs. The team will come in and pick up their production order sheets and start making their products straight away.

On average, I’d say we make about 300 to 500 shades a day. When I first started working at Jim Lawrence it was a lot less because we used to have to do every single stage by hand, from measuring out and cutting the wire frame to cutting and laminating the card, whereas now we have machines to help us.

How do you make a lampshade?

Firstly, we print off the production order so you know what kind of shade you are making, and how many.  We collect the pre-cut, self-adhesive laminated panels that are pre-prepared on the zund with fabric stuck on them. If it is a bespoke shade, we cut our own panels according the size and shape required.

We then score and peel off the laminate along one side of the panel and fold the fabric over creating a nice, neat seam. We do the same to the top and bottom and stick some double sided sticky tape along the edges.

We then fold the fabric over onto the sticky tape making sure there are no folds or creases in the material. Using our fingernails, or a blunt instrument, we push and tuck the folded over fabric behind the plastic ring making sure there are no loose threads and seal it with PVA glue to keep everything in place.

Finally, we run a small amount of super glue and PVA along the long seam of the shade and stick the sides together using a weight to hold it in place for about 10-15mins until the glue sets. The shade is then ready to be labelled, bagged up and sent to our customers.

Do you all have a background in sewing?

No not at all. I was a self-employed landscape gardener before I came to Jim Lawrence! Funnily enough, with the exception of Vonny who has worked as a seamstress previously, and Tony who had his own lampshade business, none of us have a background in sewing and crafting, although we all enjoyed doing a bit as a past time.

Jim was one of Tony’s customers and loved his shades so much that when there was an opportunity, Jim bought the business and Tony came with it!

What is the most popular shade you make?

Candle clip shades are always the most popular because you generally need a few of them for your wall lights. The run up to Christmas is our busiest time of year for all shades, but particularly for candles.

We notice trends in fabric more. Soft furnishing fashions usually follow the same trends as paint colours, so neutrals have been popular for ages, along with grey and plain fabrics. Our tweeds and velvets are more popular in winter with lighter linens and cotton coming into their own during the summer.

What is your favourite Jim Lawrence fabric to work with?

I love the Hunstanton velvets as they are a beautiful fabric to work with, not only because they are so nice to handle but because they also cut and glue well. They make amazing shades. I also like our Featherdown because it is basically a neutral but with soft, subtle colours that look particularly good on a shade or cushion.

Do you get any bespoke soft furnishing requests?

We don’t make as many bespoke soft furnishings as we used to because of time constraints, but I remember one order we had to make a shade out of horsehair!

We also had a request for a shade made from antique napkins with initials on and once had a large order for waterproof, canvas shades for a house in Barbados that were shipped over on a private jet.

What’s the best part of working for a family business like Jim Lawrence?

We love the fact that we work in relatively small teams at Jim Lawrence, so it is easy to settle in and get to know everyone. Because most of us have worked here a long time, we’re good friends as well as colleagues and know what we need to do every day with very little direction which means we work productively in a relaxed, easy atmosphere.

Our workspace is also fantastic, really light, bright and airy – even in winter – which makes it a pleasure to come to work. Also, Jim allows us to bring our dogs in, as long as they are well behaved, which is a huge bonus!