These are one of the best pieces I have ever made, but I cannot take full credit! They were definitely inspired by a lot of sewers who are making similar things that I've seen on Instagram and because I wanted to get some for the kids, I thought I would have a go first before I bought someone else's. I am so pleased I have been able to make them though; Parties will never be the same again!
They were not fiddly to make but the preparation of a good template paid off; this is not a freehand jobby!
I am going to list the instructions as I want to be as clear as possible. This is exactly what I did but you might know a better method and little tricks to make it easier for you.
1. Make a template out of paper. The length of the whole crown 48cm. The height from the base line to the top of the points is 17cm. Cut out a rectangle to this size.
2. Fold the rectangle in half to find the middle of where your first point will be.
3. Now draw a line horizontally along the crown separating the band and where the point will start. Mine was 9cm from the base line.
4. Above your band line you are now going to mark on where your points are. This has to be exact so start on the middle point where there should be a crease line.
5. Each triangle point is 8cm long at the base so make out intervals of 8cm down the band. You will need to leave 5cm at each end to mark the end of the crown.
6. At this point you should have a rectangle with a line horizontally through the middle and little markers in a 5cm,8cm,8cm,8cm,8cm,8cm,5cm order. (you should have 5 points).
if not I am not good at explaining!
7. Now in each of your 8cm blocks, go in 4cm and draw a line to the top of the rectangle.
8. You can now make a perfect point by drawing each side on the triangle and matching up the point at the top to the 8cm markers at the bottom.
9. Once you have done this, cut out the template.
10. The fabric you are using needs to be bigger than the template. You will need two pieces that you lay with the print both facing each other on the inside.
11. Pin the template onto the fabric. Do not cut it out!
12. Now sew around the template, just a few millimeters away from the paper. Keep it as tight as possible without actually sewing on the paper. This is the best guide.
13. Make sure you leave a good 10cm gap open along the base line so that your are able to turn the whole piece inside out.
14. Cut the crown out and remove the paper and pins.
15. Leave the points with a flat end as this makes them point better.
16. Using the gap you left; turn the fabric inside out. You will need a pointing object like a pencil to help you push each crown point out.
17. I then panicked as the base of the points were gathered (right hand point) and didn't sit well so I used a stitch-unpick and unpicked the few stitches that were pulling it and ended up with a better finish (left hand point). It isn't a problem to unpick them as we are sewing around it again later!
18. Iron the whole piece flat.
19. Resew around the whole thing a few millimeters in from the edge. Make sure you tuck in the fabric from the gap on the base and sew over that sealing the whole piece.
20. Get two lengths of ribbon and sew onto each end of the crown.
21. The crown fits Etta (1.5y) when it is fully closed and Raph (3.5y) when it is open so these measurements are from them up really.
That is pretty much it. They worked out so well It makes me want to just make loads in different fabrics. I should point out that the more heavy duty the fabric is the more structure it will have. I used Cath Kidston cotton and some Clark And Clark cotton which is thicker than most.
Post by Emily
So going to have a go at some of these! They are lovely! Like you say, birthdays will never be the same again!
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