32: C is for crown

My little princess is 4 going on 24...No she doesn't wear makeup or get pushed to grow up too fast, but sometimes I can't get over how wise she seems.  So when she gets excited about something young, sweet, and wholesome, I'm all for it.

As most of you know, I made a cute wool felt crown for Theo's birthday and Aurora loved it.  So, of course, I had to make another more girly version.  

And this time, just for you, I made a tutorial.  Without further ado...here it is:

Materials:

2 pieces of wool felt at least 5.5" x 14.5"

Some additional scraps of wool felt

2 1/4" x 10" scrap of fabric

5 1/2" long piece of 3/4" elastic

1 piece of heavyweight fusible interfacing  5.5" x 14.5"

Coordinating thread

small decorative items (vintage buttons, etc.)

Crown Pattern

I used 100% wool felt.  I can't say enough good things about it.  It just feels soooo nice.  I'm no expert so I don't know what the difference is... I can't say it needs to be 100%.

Directions:

1. Cut out crown pieces (using pattern) of 2 different colors of wool felt.  It is possible to line the pattern up with the fold as indicated, but since the felt is so thick, I found it easier to make a full size pattern piece (it doesn't fit on regular paper so I didn't provide it) by taping two halves together.

2.  Trim the outside crown piece down about 1/4" on all sides except the ends.

3.  I used pinking shears on the top edge to fancy it up a bit.  You can do this on 1 or both long edges.

4.  Using the outside felt as a guide, cut a pieces of heavyweight fusible interfacing about 1/8"-1/4" smaller on all sides.  (It's probably possible to skip this since the felt is pretty thick, but I did one with only a lightweight interfacing and I really preferred the stiffness of the heavyweight interfacing).

5.  Fuse the interfacing onto the exterior crown piece according to manufacturer's directions.

6.  Cut 2 squares of scrap felt one 2 5/8" and one 2 1/4".

7.  Draw or print your child's inital so it is approximately 1 1/2" to 1 5/8" tall.  (This doesn't HAVE to be an initial, it could be lightning bolt, flower, butterfly, fleur de lis, or really anything you can think of)

8.  Cut out the letter pattern and place it on the front of the crown, as shown, to check the size.

9.  Cut the letter out of a felt scrap.

10.  Cut out decorations from the felt scraps or anything you want.  Get creative...you can really do anything you'd like on the sides.  For my daughter's I did double flowers with a vintage button in the center.    For my son's I did 3 squares turning each one 45 degrees and added a button in the center.  The patterns are provided for both.  See the detail pix below.

11.  Lay the crown and all decorations out flat to see how you like the placement.

12.  Sew the initial onto the smaller front square.  I used a blanket stitch on my machine.  Obviously any of it could be done by hand.

13.  I used a decorative stitch on my machine to sew the smaller square onto the larger one.

14.  Sew the whole block onto the center of the outside crown piece.  (NOTE: I sewed on all the decoration before I sewed the 2 layers together so the stitching would not show from the inside.)

15.  Next, sew the side decorations onto the outside crown piece.  For the flowers I stitched around the edge of the large one, but just used the button to sew on the smaller one.  For the squares I stitched around the smallest and largest ones.

16.  Sew the two crown layers together along the top and bottom, centering the outside layer on the inside one.  I used another decorative stitch on my machine for the bottom.  (NOTE: If you use a fancy stitch, you might want to leave the bottom until after you've inserted the elastic so it can go down as far as possible between the two layers.  I think this makes it stay on the head better.)  Your ends should line up fairly well...if not, trim them a little.

17.  Cut a piece of 3/4" elastic 5 1/2" long.  (NOTE: I suspect this size should fit just about any kids...it fit both my 1 year old and 4 year old and I could even stretch it onto my head.  But you might want to take measurements of your own and make adjustments.  If you have a smaller 1 year old, it's possible it would be big.)

18.  Cut a piece of fabric 2 1/4" x 10"

19.  Fold the fabric strip in half the long way with right sides together and sew a 1/4" seam down the long edge.

20.  Turn the strip right side out.  Press it flat so that the seam is in the center of one side.

21.  Insert the elastic, scrunching up the fabric as necessary so the ends meet.

22.  Baste each end through the fabric and and elastic.

23.  Insert this elastic piece with the seam to the back, into on end of the crown between the two layers.  I inserted it about 1/2" in, but you could use this step to adjust your length.  Putting it as close to the bottom of the crown (but still between the two layers) as possible helps the crown stay one better without covering your little one's eyes.

24.  Sew across the ends through both layers and the elastic in the middle.  Backstitch over that line for added durability.

25.  Insert the other end of the elastic into the other side of the crown, making sure it's not twisted.  Stitch across that end in the same manner.

26.  Trim all threads and you're done!

Now your little one is royalty...

JT

 

Comments

[sandi]

Excellent tutorial, Jess!

[Mary Corbet]

Cute!! Nice tutorial! Your finishing is so perfect!

I love working with wool felt, too. I think there's a Huge Difference between it and the regular acrylic craft felt!

[Mary Smith]

Wow. Nice job. The felt material really works well on those crowns!

[Amy]

Thanks! I remember wanting a tutorial when you posted Theo's crown... It looks great!

[Channing]

you're the best! Thank you. Now I just have 5 weeks to make one. And then 6 weeks to make two more. Thanks for posting the tutorial!

[Kristi]

These look fantastic. Thank you for the tutorial, I've been looking forward to seeing how you made these gorgeous crowns. All the best.

[Marsha]

Great tutorial--thanks for sharing! Where do you get your wool felt? Do you have an online source? Thanks!

[Amy]

Thank you for sharing! I am planning on making crowns for my daughter's birthday...one for her and one for each of her 3 guests. I too would like to know if you have an online source for the wool felt. My local store doesn't carry it.

[Wendy]

Oh, that is such a fantastic tutorial! I love the level of detail cause I'm just that sort of person. I'm bookmarking this for sure.

Thanks.

[sassypriscilla]

Beautiful! I made a poor man's crown for my son's 5th birthday. Nowhere as nice as yours. Where do you get your felt?

[mary]

Your tutorials are great! Very easy to follow. Thank you!

[anuska]

I just discovered your blog and I love it. I'm going to list you on my morning coffee visits. Very creative. Will be back to visit often

Thanks for sharing!

[Sarah]

Thanks for the tutorial, those are just precious!

[Amie Bringhurst]

Can you tell me what sewing machine you use? I need a new one and some advice would do me good.

[Billie]

Cute!!! Thank you!

[Alicia]

Wow!! Awesome! I just made a post in my blog about doing a crown craft the easy way, but yours is amazing and worth all the effort!!! Beautiful!

-Alicia
www.mommysurvivalguide.com

[Jen Borley]

I LOVE this! My youngest son absolutely loves wearing costumes. . I have to find time to make at least one of these. .

[Jamie]

These look like so much fun! Awesome job!

[Debbie]

That is so cute! I love it!
-Sandy toes

[Debbie]

That is so cute! I love it!
-Sandy toes

[Rachel]

It's gorgeous! I'll be linking to this!

[kelly]

would you be willing to commission the crowns. I don't sew... but these are darling. Really darling.

[April]

What a beautiful crown and fabulous tutorial! Can't wait to make one for my Mom and Sister's birthday. May I link to your tutorial from my blog?http://feltorama.blogspot.com

[geek+nerd]

This is such a sweet variation on a classic dress up item. Thank you for posting this!

[* tonya *]

What a fantastic tutorial. I absolutely adore these crowns and so desperately wanted to get them made for my twins birthday party over the weekend but ran out of time. I still plan on making them though.

I added a link to this post on my party planning website last week. Hope you don't mind.