How to make a fascinator

Headband/Fascinator

This is not a look for wallflowers or a job interview. This is all about a night out partying or a festival. It’s about having fun and being playful. I often braid my hair or twist it into knots which adds to the fairy feel of this quirky headpiece. It’s a sparkly alternative to flower headbands and it works well with the emerging flapper girl  look from the 1920’s. This is part headband, part fascinator, depending on what you use to make it.

I have shown how to make headbands before in – this post – and in – this one too. They are so dead easy to make it’s daft to buy them. The range of ribbon, lace and trimmings you can choose from is waaay more exciting than boring retail headbands.

You need lace or embellishment and thread elastic

In the other headbands I made – see links above – I sewed the ribbon to knicker elastic. Since I’m always trying to be resourceful and use up whatever is lying around, this time, I used a piece of elastic that joined a pair of espadrilles.

You need: –
a piece of lace approximately 30 centimeters long
needle and matching thread
elastic thread approximately 30 centimeters long
Stop Fray

To make: –

• Place the piece of lace or embellishment on your head to get a sense of how you want to wear it and how it will wrap around your head. 
• Remove from your head and trim making sure you keep any pattern or design in tact.
• If the lace or embellishment is likely to fray then glue any loose ends with Stop Fray or similar product.
• Fold your elastic in half and knot the end.
• Place your headpiece back on your head and measure how much elastic you need to keep it snug but not too tight.
• You may have to shorten and make a new knot in your elastic.
• Hand sew your elastic to your lace or embellishment and that’s it! Now all you need is a party to wear you new headpiece.

Visit the Greenie Galleries for photos and links to older DIYs. They’re at the top of the page. You can share your creations and upstyling projects, or give Greenie a “like” on the Greenie Dresses for Less facebook page.

I’m back next week with more.

Greenie.