How-To: Create Feather and Brocade Headpieces

Last weekend I had the pleasure of celebrating my friend Leandra’s “Hen Night”. Her loved ones scheduled a fun night out in San Francisco that included cocktails at Burbon and Branch, dinner at Asia SF, and dancing at Bootie. It was a great time, and for my contribution, I created 15 feather and brocade fascinators for each beautiful guest. It was quite the crafting extravaganza, but once I started making them, I couldn’t stop.

Because I didn’t know what anyone would be wearing, I worked in an entire rainbow of colors. I used bulk craft feathers and remnants of brocade from my local fabric shop, a cardboard box, and simple headbands from the drugstore. And when I brought them to the party, the most amazing thing happened- each girl found a piece to exactly compliment their outfits! The headpieces, while unique, totally unified us. We stepped out as a glamorous tribe of stunners.

Materials:
Cardboard
Brocade scraps
Tulle
Feathers
Silk flowers
Butterflies
Hot glue
Headbands and blank barrettes


Step 1: Cut a piece of cardboard in a teardrop shape, about 4″ long. Make sure the barrette hardware will fit on the back.

Step 2: Cut a piece of brocade in the same shape, but make it slightly bigger than the cardboard. Make it large enough to easily cover the sides when wrapped over the teardrop.

Step 3: Cover the teardrop with the brocade using the hot glue, or any other fabric adhesive you prefer.

Step 4: Trim your feathers into new lengths, or even new shapes. I took the fluffy parts off of the pale feathers to create a short fan.



Step 5: Working sparingly, glue the feathers to the brocade in layers. Start the first layer closest to the rounded edge, and overlap new layers towards the point. I added the 2 layers of fans, then two fluffy pink feathers at the point. Then I tucked three dark and dramatic pieces in to add drama.

Step 6: Once the feathers have set and dried, flip the piece over and attach the hardware with a liberal amount of glue. Voila!