By Jennifer Perkins
Recently, I have started dabbling in digital scrapbooking. I need another crafty hobby like a hole in the head, but have you seen all the cute options out there? I blame my latest obsession on one woman, Danielle Thompson, and her Kitschy Digitals. Her line of digital scrapbooking goodies includes prize ribbons, washi tape, garden gnomes, and more. Her designs are so cute I didn’t want to just play with them on the computer, I wanted to make them into actual physical items I could craft with, and more importantly, wear. With the help of some printer fabric, that is exactly what I did.
Materials
Kitschy Digitals Monotone Fresh Feathers Kit
Inkjet printable fabric; I like June Tailor
Scissors
Felt
Large gold crimps
Gold craft lacing
Pliers
Fusible webbing
Alligator clip
4 jump rings, 7mm or larger
Iron and ironing board
Directions
Step 1: The first thing to do is print your digital elements (in this case, feathers) onto printable fabric. Follow the instructions on the package for best results. Two words of warning: The fabric is not waterproof, so don’t wear your new feathers to the beach. Going over the design with a super hot iron, however, does seem to help set the color. Second, I have the best luck if I take all the paper out of my printer and run the fabric sheet through by itself. The fabric paper jams easily and it doesn’t work well once it’s wrinkly. And printable fabric is not so cheap, so it pays to be extra careful with it.
Next, fuse your printed fabric sheet to one side of your fusible webbing, following the package directions. Cut your feathers out and then fuse them to a piece of felt. Cut the feather shapes out, leaving a little felt at the edges and adding some cut-in details to make them look extra feathery. Be sure to leave a little felt at the stem end of each feather – that will help you install the crimps in the next step.
I also added feathers to the backsides of the felt, so when the wind blows through my hair, you can see full feather action. To do this, you’d need to reverse each feather design before printing it onto fabric.
Step 2: Cut the gold lacing into as many pieces as you’d like to have feathers dangling. The length you cut them depends on the length of your hair. I have three feathers, so I cut three strands at different lengths. Using pliers, I then attached large crimps to both ends of each strand of lacing and to the stem ends of each of my feathers. (This is easy to do; just insert the end of the lacing or feather into the crimp and then bend the metal over it at the back. Press the whole thing flat with your pliers so the lacing or feather is locked in place.)
Step 3: Next, I attached a jump ring to the crimp end of each of the three feathers. I opened these jump rings and then slipped them through the holes in the crimped lacing. (If you’ve never handled a jump ring before, you might find this how-to helpful.)
That attached the feathers to the lacing, and now you’re almost ready to dangle.
Step 4: I then attached all three assembled strands to an alligator clip using another jump ring. Alligator clips are easily found at jewelry supply stores. I stole mine from a vintage sweater clip. Any type of clip that you could hang something from would work. Just open the jump ring, thread on the three crimps holding the lacing, and close it up.
Step 5: All that was left to do was clip my feathers into my long, unruly mane. I also felt like I could clip them to an airbrushed straw cowgirl hat for an Urban Cowboy look.
About the Author:
Jennifer Perkins is a the crafty lady at the helm of the blog, book, and website Naughty Secretary Club. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, daughter, 2 large dogs, and cat.
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