Fabric Faerie Wings Sort-Of-Tutorial

If you are like me, you love little girls and wings :D Faerie wings, angel wings, chicken wings, whatever! Most of the tutorials I found involved bending wire coat hangers, or the store-bought wings had cheap metal in them. I didn't want to fuss with the bending, nor did I want something potentially sharp. In this house, at least, things sometimes get stuffed in spaces they shouldn't, left out and tromped on, etc. I just did not see that going anywhere good. So I decided to make my own all-fabric version.

I was going to title this "Faerie Wings Tutorial" but let's be honest, I'm not telling you how to make something amazing and exciting. I'm not an expert with lots of professional pictures and smart tips. I hardly know what I'm doing myself. ;) So this is just me sharing what I did, with some mediocre pictures and cross-my-fingers-that-it's-clear instructions.



Aside from the materials to make these wings, you'll need some sort of pattern. You could blow up a photocopy of some wings for a pattern, or do what I did and freehand it on some tissue or an opened brown paper bag. I can tell you from experience that you want the wings to slope up and down, from the middle, at a steep angle. The first pair of wings I ever made kind of look like two mermaid's tails stuck together, not so much wings, because of this. :/ This is my first (and possibly only) pro tip: if you are not careful about your angles, not only with the wings look kinda funny, but they will droop. Observe:

Conjoined mermaid twins?


Droopy Emo Faerie?


This is undesirable. :) Instead compare:


The size difference, by the way, is due partly to what I wanted the wings to be and due partly to the fact my kids are bigger now. ;)

Anyways, onward. Aside from making sure your wings don't droop, you will need a space for the two wings to connect that is the size of the fabric or ribbon you will be using to connect them. (See above comparison picture). This is reason #2 the first wings are droopy...their connector is too long. There is too much extra space in the middle, so the elastic connector doesn't hold them well. If you wanted to do some pixie-ish petal wings that didn't have a steep up and down, this is where your job is most important. Don't make a big space between the wings. :) For symmetry, I just draw one wing and use the pattern in reverse for the other side.

Now assemble your materials:
~Stiff or thick under fabric, such as a firm cotton or even felt. If you are not doing a full overlay, make sure it matches!

~Overlay fabric...this could be anything, this is what will be on the outside of the wings, so use your imagination. I used a lot of pretty satins and chiffons. It's ok to use more than one.

~Heavy interfacing called stabilizer. I use Pellon's version, found it at Jo-Ann's. It's like stiff, thin felt. I think it's called Peltex.

~Extra-wide ribbon, or fabric from about 1.5"-3" wide. The wider, the better.

~Extra-wide elastic. In the blue set of wings shown, I used sport elastic, and just sewed a small piece as per instructions into two pieces of ribbon. I just made a regular casing out of the ribbon for the wide non-roll elastic in the pink wings shown.

~Matching ribbon, about 3/4"-1" for arm casings, plus skinny elastic

~Small diaper-type pin to pull elastic through casings

~Notions (thread, pins, scissors, etc.)

Optional:
Matching extra-wide double-fold bias tape. If using the method for the pink wings, as shown, you will need 1-2 packages for the wings.

Embellishments such as buttons, ribbons, lace, flowers, jewels, etc.

Now to get started! I took process pictures when I sewed my flower faerie wings, which means the bias tape method will be the one shown. Personally, I think that sewing the wings wrong sides together (leaving a small opening), then turning out and topstitching (as in the blue wings) looks the best. It was hard to get the bias tape to cooperate evenly, so my wings didn't turn out as professionally awesome as I'd have liked. If you are using the turn-and-topstitch method, add a 1/2" seam allowance to your pattern. Otherwise, just cut your fabric into the desired shapes:



1. You'll need to cut two of the underlay fabric per wing piece, and one-two of each overlay. You need 1 piece of stabilizer per wing piece. Assemble the pieces together as they are to be sewn. For the turn-and-topstitch method, this means the overlay pieces on the inside, sandwiched between the underlay pieces, and the stabilizer piece on top. For the bias tape method, the stabilizer should be sandwiched between the under fabrics and the overlay on the outside.



2a. For the turn-and-topstitch method, sew along the wings at a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving the opening at where the wings will connect in the middle to turn. If this area is small, leave more space and sew that part up when you topstitch. Trim the stabilizer all the way to the seam, and clip curves. Turn to the outside, press if desired and necessary (and the fabrics used will allow). Topstitch all the way around the wing, leaving the connector area open.

2b. For the bias tape method, carefully position the bias tape so that the fold is flush with the edge, and carefully sew along the wings' edge, being sure to catch in all layers and bending/folding the bias tape as needed. Leave the connector area open. Finish the edges of the bias tape when done.



2c. If each wing has more than one piece, now is the time to attach them together. For these wings, I attached them together and made a 'connector' area at the same time, so that is why they have bias tape all around them.



3. Prepare the connector. Take the extra-wide ribbon and elastic. Cut two pieces of ribbon the desired length, about 4"-7". Remember it will 'shrink' due to the elastic, and we want at least 1/2" if not more to insert into the wings on each side. If using sport elastic, cut the elastic a few inches short of the connector ribbon. Sew both ends of the ribbon closed width-wise, catching in the elastic that was placed in between the two pieces of ribbon. Sew along grooves. If using regular elastic, cut the elastic 1.5"-2" shorter than the ribbon and sew both ends of the ribbon closed width-wise, catching in elastic placed in middle. Sew along the top and bottom lengths of the ribbon, encasing the elastic. Alternately, sew along top and bottom lengths of the ribbon to form a casing, then insert elastic and sew both ends shut, catching in elastic.







4. Connect the two wings together. First insert the connector piece into the connecting area of one of the wings. Turn the raw edges under, and stitch firmly in place. Repeat on the other side with the other wing.







5. Make the arm pieces. For the blue wings I used ribbon, sewing the top and bottom lengths of ribbon together to make a casing. For the pink wings I used bias tape, sewing the bottom edge shut to make the casing. Either way, cut enough pieces to make two arm pieces, about 16-19" in length. Make the casing, cut a piece of elastic a few inches shorter, feed through the casing and stitch the casing closed.



6. Position the arm pieces.



To minimize droopiness, and help keep the wings on, you actually want them to reach from the middle and up. So I placed mine a few inches over and a few inches up from the connection in the middle. This is also why they are so long ;).





This is one of the trickier steps, because the length of the arm pieces and placement depends on how big your wings are, how big your child is, and where exactly you want the middle of the wings to fall. I have found the most success using the shoulder blades as a guide for the wing connector placement...somewhere in the middle is ideal, and no lower than the shoulder blades or higher than the shoulders. You may need to experiment a bit with this step.

However, that is the last step of the basic wing preparation!



From there you may embellish, if you desire! I thought the blue wings were fancy enough on their own, but I went extreme for the flower faerie ones. ;)





I hope it made sense! :) If you try, let me know how it turned out for you!