Wire, Lace, Crystals, Band

There  are times when you need headgear for a large number of Dance students in a hurry.  Whether the snow delayed a shipment or they were forgotten with the rush of last minute rehearsals, it helps to have a backup.

A couple of metres of pretty lace, some glue and beads or rhinestones and some millinery wire are mostly what you need.

I used a Tiara band for the base around the head but heavy wire is fine.

Wrapped band

I covered the base with some metallic ribbon and a dot of adhesive.

Decide on the shape crown you want and even sketch it out on some paper as a guide.

Use some millinery wire and bend into your chosen shape. I did a couple of even zig zags and one taller one in the front of the crown.

Bending wire

Then hook around your base and either attach with some upholstery thread or beading wire.

You are just looking to join the wire where it meets the band.

Next stiffen your lace. You can either dip it in starch or Glue.

I used a PVA watered down 1 – 5 ( 1 Tablespoon glue to 5 Tablespoons of water. Soak for 10 minutes and gently squeeze the excess out.

Bending wire onto base

My camera batteries ran out at this stage and so- no photo of lace in glue.

Decide on shape of crown and lay your lace over the shape–ie pudding bowl or mannequins head.

Stiffened Lace

Put a layer of plastic over the shape first and position the lace.

Leave overnight in a warm area to stiffen.

Attaching lace to base of crown

Trim to the shape – I trimmed the bottom off my lace as I felt it sat too high – and attach to your base with heavy duty cotton -I used no.36 American upholstery thread.

Once attached I added crystals and beads.

I used fine wire with crystals threaded on to attach a ‘V’ shape in the front of the crown. A piece of trim sewn to the front and its done.

You can add glitter or Trim and embellish as much or as little as you want.

Quite effective for a quick headpiece.

Adding beads

Now you can use any shape or fabric and play with ideas for your next one.

Finished crown

Hope you enjoyed that workshop.

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