I Made An Umbrella! Yes, A Real Umbrella

Last weekend, I took an umbrella making class at a local indie fabric store. It was SO FUN! Great shop, great instructor, great classmates!

The class fee included the umbrella frame and hardware, some of the necessary accessories (safety pins, rubber band, small tube of E6000) as well as written instructions and paper pattern. It takes about 2 yards/meters of fabric depending on if you want to fussy cut and I used the yardage I kept of this large scale Kaffe Fassett I had thrifted a couple years ago and then distributed around the world. :rofl:

It’s a tiny bit fussy and maybe not good for a real beginning sewist, but is surprisingly forgiving and easy if you have someone guiding your through your first one.

It’s sprayed with a waterproofing spray which makes it a functional umbrella for most circumstances, so it also has a snapping strap for storage.

It’s a bamboo handle with brass fittings and black metal ribs and a black release button.


It’s called a 48" umbrella which I assume is measuring from one tip to the other across the top center. A nice sized adult umbrella. Other sizes are available. This is our class at the end of the day. We all still needed to do the hand stitching, which is all attaching the fabric to the frame and the hardware that attaches to the frame. The final step is gluing the ferrule that covers the fabric where it goes over the tip. I have blurred their faces since I did not ask permission to post their image. They drove 4 hours from another state the day before to take the class!

This was so fun and satisfying, I can see becoming addicted to making them! That said, they could easily cost $60 each in materials alone to make and I’m not sure anyone on my gift list would actually want an umbrella.

Vivienne really wanted to go through the gate into the Forest when I took pics. So I got this shot of her when I came back through.

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This is awesome!

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That is SO cool!

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Great use of that special fabric!

Too bad we don’t use umbrellas daily like they do in Japan to keep the sun off during the day…that umbrella is too pretty to just save for a rainy day!

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This. Is. So. Frickin’. Cool.

Love it. :closed_umbrella: :orange_heart:

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THANKS everyone! I’m just so tickled with it!

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That is so darn cool! What a fun class.

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Thanks! I was so fun.

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Wow, I’m super impressed!!!

And I freaking love your colorful umbrella!

In AZ I do see people walking around with them, particularly in the summer - it’s like portable shade. :wink:

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Wow, I had never imagined that an umbrella was something you could make. I bet it would be fussy cutting kaleidoscopic heaven if you wanted to be ridiculous with it.

The fabric you chose is amazing and your brolly came out wonderfully, thanks for sharing it.

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Thanks, y’all!

@Bunny1kenobi They make two different parasol kits, too!

@LittleCogs The site that sells the kits has some pics that show some kaleidoscopic ones, for sure.

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Never would I ever have dreamed you could make an umbrella. This is SO COOL and unique! It looks amazing.

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How neat that you got to take a class on this and learn it all in person! This seems like such a great way to showcase fun fabrics and you did a lovely job of just that. Bring on the rain!

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The fabric you thrifted and used is gorgeous! Definitely worth the trip for the class to have something pretty and functional at the end!!!

Thanks for sharing the little shot of Vivienne! She’s super cute too!

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Thanks, pals!

@AudiobookLover Having now glanced at the written directions that come with the kit, I am so glad I was able to take the in-person class. It’s not that hard, but tips and tricks along the way made it so much clearer how not-hard it is. Plus there are a couple of tricky bits that would be really hard to describe in words.

@Kwality570 Thank you! Vivienne is a joy in our lives and constantly being adorable. SO unlike most puppies. :rofl:

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Super impressive!

Thank you!

This is super impressive!

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:open_umbrella: :sun_behind_small_cloud: :umbrella: Congratulations! Your awesome Umbrella is a Featured Project this week! :umbrella: :sun_behind_small_cloud: :open_umbrella:

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Thanks, everyone!