Thursday, February 24, 2011

My DIY Hair Flower–How To Guide

In my last post I showed you my hair flower, not let’s talk about how I made it!

First off, here’s what I used:

  1. Silk dupioni (I bought 0.4 meters, but 0.2 meters would have been plenty)
  2. Tulle (0.2 meters)
  3. French veiling (1 yard, 9 inches wide, purchased from GS Boutique on etsy)
  4. Vintage rhinestone pin
  5. Fabri-Tac adhesive
  6. Peony template (you may want a few print outs)
  7. Needle, pins, matching thread, scissorsIMGP2671

First up, I cut the silk into strips just wider than the flower, folded it up and pinned the template to it.  I wound up using about 9 layers of silk flowers as I wanted a full flower, but I didn’t want so many layers that the fascinator would be really heavy and prone to falling out or weighing down my hair.IMGP2678I then repeated the process with the tulle.  I used two layers of tulle between each layer of silk.

The silk I used was prone to fraying at the edges, so I decided to use fray check around the edges of each flower.  The fray check also has the benefit of giving the flowers a bit more structure so you can define the layers rather than having them flop down against each other.IMGP2683IMGP2686I then assembled all of the layers, making sure the layers didn’t align perfectly and alternating two layers of tulle between each layer of silk, finishing with silk on the bottom.IMGP2688

I then ran a few stitches through the center of the flower.IMGP2689Now fold the flower in half, and then in half again, with the bottom layer staying on the outside of the fold.  Run a few stitches through the corner of the fold to help give the flower a bit more shape.  Unfold.IMGP2707IMGP2708IMGP2707Turn the flower over to attach your embellishment to the top of the flower.  The benefit of using a brooch was that I could just thread it through the center of the flower.IMGP2691Now it was time to design the French veiling leaf for the flower.  I drew a leaf on another copy of the template.IMGP3037I wanted the leaf to be symmetrical so I folded the paper in half and only drew half the leaf.  I wanted to curve the bottom of the leaf that would attach to the underside of the flower so I grabbed my compass from university.  This is by no means necessary of course.  Fold in half and cut!IMGP3039IMGP3042I then pinned the leaf to the veiling, making sure the tip of the leaf lined up with one of the tips of the diamonds in the veiling.  Trim.IMGP3043I attached the veiling to the back of the flower with just a couple of stiches.  It will get tacked down a bit better soon.IMGP3048I needed a way to attach the hair clip to the back of the flower so I cut out a circle of silk big enough to attach the clip to.IMGP3049I used fabric glue (Fabri-Tac) to attach the top of the clip to the fabric circle.  Once it was dry I put a spot of glue in the center of the circle and a ring of glue around the outside.IMGP3050I glued the circle down, making sure there was enough play to allow for popping the clip open and closed.IMGP3051And that’s it!  At the hair trial I’ll determine if I need to add in a few stitches here or there but I honestly think it is good to go (that Fabric-Tac is strong stuff).IMGP3053IMGP3056And here’s a cost breakdown for the project!  I’m not including the cost of the fray check, fabric adhesive and basic sewing notions since I already had those on hand.

Hair clips = $1.05
Silk dupioni = $11.76 (and I could have sufficed with half the amount I purchased)
Tulle = $1.05
French veiling = $3.71
Rhinestone pin = $10.45
TOTAL = $28.02

I hope you found this tutorial useful!  Have you thought about trying to make your own bridal accessories?

7 comments:

Danielle said...

OOO! It came out super cute! Awesome instructions, too! Thanks!

Manda Mack said...

Freaking a-maz-ing! Definitely will be attempting some of these, maybe not just for a hair accessory either...these would look AWESOME on my card box that I plan on making...Great tutorial!

Minnesota Maven said...

I like your flower! I plan to make one soon!

Heather said...

You did a fabulous job on the hair flower!

Saying I do said...

wpw! This is fantastic, great job! Just found you, looking forward to following you as you count down to your big day!

Unknown said...
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Anonymous said...

Awesome! Super cute!