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1.07.2013

DIY Flower Crown - Tutorial


I want to say first - in case you're like me and prefer not to use glue if possible, and cringe at the prospect of hand-sewing - that this crown is made entirely on your sewing machine.

NO GLUING.  NO HAND-SEWING.
HOORAY!


Emmy has a favorite book called Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?, and it sits firmly at the number two spot in our nightly rotation.  It's such a cute book.  The little girl in the story wears this crown of flowers wherever she goes, whatever she's doing - even if she's playing in the rain and mud.  So I decided to make Emmy a crown, too!  To wear while she's licking furniture or pretending not to eat the dog kibble.  Haha, that's my princess.  ;)

My goal with this project was total durability.  I want her to be able to REALLY wear it all the time, if she so chooses! So it also had to be totally comfortable.  I thought about using glue, but I don't like how it gets so hard and lumpy.  Plus, I'm not the tidiest gluer.  Plus my friend Beth has my glue gun right now #bethonblast.  So that was out.

Then when I was fiddling around with store-bought headbands Emmy has, it dawned on me - sandwich the flowers in between two headbands.  Then, an even better idea - make the whole shebang from scratch!

Want to make one, too!?

Emmy-Approved!

You will need:

                                   - 36 inches of Fold-Over Elastic (FOE) (more info below)
                                   - Faux Flowers (specifics below)
                                   - Sewing Machine
                                   - Thread to Match your FOE




A critical detail your flowers need to possess:

They need to taper out at the bottom of the stem.  Most faux flowers that are on a vine like this will have that wider end - it's the part that sort of 'plugs' into the vine.  Know what I mean?

This is crucial for your flowers to stay put within your crown.



First step:  Have your helper pull off a bunch of flower sprigs, while you're readying your FOE!  




A few things about fold-over elastic:
It's awesome.
It's soft as all get-out.
It comes in a bazillion colors and patterns.
It's incredibly easy to work with.
There are tons of applications for it's use.

A few cool FOE projects:

A Few Places to Buy FOE:



So here is my 36ish inches of FOE - note it's folded in half.  You can also use two 18ish inch pieces if that's what you have.  Emmy has a pretty sizable melon, so in my opinion this measurement would fit ages 2 probably up to 5.  For the little'ns (2 and younger) I would cut it maybe an inch smaller.  
Or just wrap the FOE around the intendeds' head to get an estimate of length - and remember, this stuff stretches well, even after we sew it!



Line up several sprigs along the FOE to get a sense of how many you're going to need:

I ended up needing one more sprig than I initially laid out here.

Pin the ends of your FOE together, overlapping all 4 layers:



Zigzag stitch over your pin (we're livin' on the edge!), making sure to catch all layers:




Now you've essentially made a double-decker headband:



Now we're going to make the first little slit for our first sprig.
Near the seam you just sewed, pinch one layer (the outer layer) of the FOE like so:



Snip a very tiny hole in the center of the FOE - there's a groove running down the middle of fold-over elastic - that's where your going to snip.  And remember, this stuff stretches, so the hole needn't be as big as your stem:

Tiny snip!

Insert your first sprig into the hole you snipped, all the way until you reach a fork (or whatever other geographical feature your particular flowers have):



Now we're going to zigzag stitch over the part of the stem that's in between the two layers of FOE:



The key here is to lock in that wider part of the stem.  Where it's wider, use a wider stitch, and as the stem narrows, make your stitches more narrow.  This will ensure that the stem can't be pulled out:

My stitch widths varied from about 2.5 to 6mm at the widest point.

Tack down the stem at various spots, with various stitch widths, and also right up against the opening itself:




Now, lay your next sprig on top of the headband, in line with the first.  Do you want the flowers more compact?  More spread out?  Up to you!  Mark with a pin or with your keen eye where your next snip needs to be, and snip:



Try to keep the previous flowers out of the way when you're sewing the next ones in line:



Continue all the way around, until you are back to whence you started!  I had seven sprigs in total, but this will depend entirely on your flowers and your spacing.  Also, any bunchiness or weirdness will straighten out beautifully once on the wearer.



Done!  Put atop beautiful babychild:




I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial!  Hit me up if you make one!

I truly can't WAIT to see the variations you make!



Have a great week everyone,

cheers!


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18 comments:

  1. Adorable! And Em looks so freaking cute in that scarf!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Kim! Emmy's her name... Fashion's her game. :D

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  2. This is really cool. I hate gluing stuff too--always prefer sewing. I see how some bloggers go through all these steps of gluing and stapling and whatever to not sew, when it would take way less time just to sew it in the first place.
    Great job and excellent tutorial. I bet your daughter is going to save it forever!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Susan! Happy you like it! Yeah, boo to glue. :D

      Delete
  3. I really enjoyed reading your tutorial! I like how you thought about durability...that is what needed for everyday play wear!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Annie! Absolutely - durability is a MUST! :)

      Delete
  4. Very cute! I pinned this so I can remember to make it for my daugther this weekend.

    I host a link party each Thursday and would love for you to share this.

    Thanks for the great post!

    -Angie
    www.easylivingmom.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awesome, and thank you so much for the invite! I'll stop by for sure!

      Delete
  5. So pretty! Lovely tutorial. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. So charming little girl!!! Love the pretty crown! Thanks so much for sharing the great tutorial! I'd love for you to visit my blog.
    Have a fabulous weekend!

    Hugs from Portugal,

    Ana Love Craft
    www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a pretty girl. I bet she loves it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Very pretty! Thanks for linking up at my Pin Me party at DianaRambles.com. I am now following you via GFC, Pinterest, & Facebook!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Adorable and Em approved too!! So happy to see yu link up this week. Thank you for sharing at the hop xo

    ReplyDelete
  10. So adorable! I'd love for you to share this or any of your great ideas at the link party going on now (and every Saturday through Tuesday) at 'Or so she says ...' Hope to see you there!

    ReplyDelete
  11. this is darling! So glad you shared this at my link party excited to see what you have to share this week

    ReplyDelete

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