Saturday, May 9, 2009

Wool Felt Birthday Crown Tutorial


*Pictured above, L to R: Autumn birthday crown, Spring birthday crown and doll's birthday crown*

When I decided to make a birthday crown for my first daughter, I searched and searched for the perfect pattern, but didn't find anything I truly loved. So, what was a determined Mama to do? Make up a pattern of my own, of course!

I hope I convey these instructions well. This is the first time I have tried making a tutorial from something I completely dreamed up in my mind. If you have any questions or need more details, please do not be afraid to contact me! Here goes!

Materials needed:
-wool felt (I will go into measurements in a minute)
-a small piece of cotton (or other natural fiber) fabric
-small piece of 1/2" or slightly larger elastic
-embroidery floss
-cotton thread to match crown color
-inspiration (pictures, objects, fabrics, etc.)
-notions (embroidery needle, scissors, pins, ruler/measuring tape, a pencil)

A note about the felt. I prefer only natural materials so I used 100% wool felt from Gossamer Rose on Etsy. Her felt is amazing and she is so wonderful to work with. She sells the felt in 9" x 9" pieces but you can contact her for custom sizes. For the crown itself I ordered 2 pieces in 9" x 18" and then for the embellishments I just got the 9" x 9". You will end up with lots left over for other crafting pleasures :) The 9" x 18" is the perfect size for any head measurement.

Step one: Design
Take notes and gather any inspiration you may have for your crown's design. I like to make mine represent not only what I see of my child's personality, but also the season that they were born in. Once I know what I want on the crown, I sketch it out, and that is my reference for decorating the crown.


*Some of my inspiration for my Spring Baby's crown*

Step two: Cut out the crown
I imagined what a crown should look like in my head and then I free-handed it on a piece of paper. I did this by folding the paper in half and drawing just one side of the crown, with the middle being at the fold. I made it about 16" in length (which ends up being a great sized crown for ages 1 to 99). Double check your free-handed pattern on your child's head to make sure it goes around pretty far. Keep in mind, you will want a large enough gap in the back for your elastic.

I then cut it out and traced it onto my wool. You can make it any shape you desire. Really, with this project there is no right or wrong way. It's all up to you and your imagination!


*template traced on the wool and prepared to cut out*

I cut out the crown, which will be my front piece, and then using that piece, I pinned it to my other piece of 9" x 18" wool, and cut that out. That is now the back piece or the 'lining' to the crown. This way they should be exactly or very close to exactly the same. If they are slightly off you can trim them to fit once the crown is sewn up.

Put the back piece away for now, as you will not need it again until later on.

Step three: Embellish
Now, get your sketch back out and start decorating the crown front how you desire. I chose to do embroidery and wool felt cut-outs on mine. Again, you can do this any way you like. For my cut-outs, I sketched most of them on paper first, cut them out, and then traced them onto the wool. Some of them I just free-handed directly onto the wool and used the side I drew on as the back. To add the cut-outs you can embroider them on, machine sew, or hand sew them.

Examples here: Spring Crown, Early Autumn Crown

You can make it as simple or complicated as you like. I have seen people even start out with just one embellishment and then they add on a new one each year. The possibilities are endless!


*Attaching a wool felt clover on a doll's crown*

Step four: Cover your elastic backing
You will be making a casing for your elastic backing. It can be done by hand or machine. Take your elastic and pin it to one side of your crown, then try the crown on your child's head and measure where the elastic should be at to reach the other side of the crown and sit somewhat snuggly on her/his head. You want it to be loose enough so that when you try it on your own head it will fit as well. When you find the perfect length, cut the elastic to that length. Now take that piece of elastic and lay it on your fabric, on the right side of the fabric. Fold your fabric up over your elastic and leave about 1/2" above the elastic. Mark it and cut it. You are going to want the fabric to be about 2 times as long as the elastic (so when the elastic stretches the fabric will cover it all). Now with the piece of fabric folded in half horizontally with right sides together, pinned in place, sew at about the width of the presser foot all the way across, leaving both ends open. Trim your seam and then flip it right side out. Feed the elastic through and then sew the elastic and the fabric together at each opening. This will close the opening and make the elastic more secure for attaching it to the crown.


*Elastic casing on back of crown*

Step five: Put it all together
Once the front of the crown is decorated the way you want and your elastic is covered, you are ready to sew it all together. Place the back piece of the crown (lining) onto the back of the crown front and pin in place. If they do not line up perfectly you can always trim the excess afterward. Insert your covered elastic from one side of the crown to the other between the two pieces of felt about 1/2" up from the bottom. Pin that in place and double check it on your child's head.

You may now sew it together. You may hand stitch it, machine stitch it (as seen below), blanket stitch it, or use some other embroidery stitch (as seen in the Autumn crown); whatever you feel looks best. Make sure you go over the elastic band a few times to really reinforce it. Trim threads and any excess and you are all set!

We have a family tradition of putting the birthday crown on the pillow of the birthday child so it's the first thing they see when they wake up on their special morning.


*Machine sewing it together*

I hope that explained it well enough! It's hard sometimes to get things that are in your head across in words, so as I mentioned before, please don't be afraid to ask any questions or offer any critiques! I would love to see your finished crowns. Please post a link here or email me with pics! I do ask, though, that you not make these crowns to sell, unless it is for a charity. Contact me for more info. Thanks and happy creating!!

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28 comments:

Tan Family said...

Wow! Thank you for the incredible tutorial. This is really special. I've wanted to make these before, and now I'm inspired to try!

Michelle said...

I found your blog a few days ago and was so excited to see today that you did a tutorial for the birthday crowns, these are so awesome. Definitely a future project for me!

Kimara said...

Very nice tutorial and I LOVE your designs! Crowns are such a special tradition. Yours are lovely!

Nicole said...

Thank you for this tutorial! I have some beautiful plant dyed wool felt that will be perfect for this! I love your "inspiration" picture!

Anonymous said...

This is so completely wonderful! Thank you. I hope to make DS a "Totoro" (forest spirit) themed crown for his birthday (unless he decides he doesn't like Totoro by then...which is entirely possible ;-)

Jessica said...

Thank you!! Just in time for my May and June kiddo's birthdays. Nicole, you are awesome!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the detailed tutorial. Yours are some of the most beautiful crowns I've seen. Would you please tell where you found the darling swan on the birthday ring?

Sabrina said...

just came across your blog today, and I love it!! I will have to give those crowns a try, they are super cute!

Heidi said...

Thanks for this tutorial. I made a crown for my son's 2nd birthday and just posted it to my blog with a link here.

www (dot) spiritualknitter (dot) blogspot (dot) come

Gae said...

I have just found your blog and had to look at your crowns. I have been making birthday crowns for our children for years.
Ours have a new one each year so they are not quite as elaborate. I did ask if they wanted one special one but everyone wanted a new one each year. I also try to reflect on what they are doing or into at the moment. Sometimes this doen't work as well as others or I don't have the materials on hand.
You did well on your tutorial.
I have to put up a post on our latest birthday party on my blog.
I have enjoyed visiting.
Blessings

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this beautiful tutorial. My sons 2nd birthday in in March and I cannot wait to give this to him on that day! Being a late winter baby, I am thinking I will combine both spring and winter elements. I loved your idea about adding a new embellishment each year! I have added your blog to my favorites and my blogroll :) I will be checking back frequently as I have intentions to also homeschool my children with a Waldorf emphasis -

FrontierDreams said...

Thank you for your kind words!

Ariella said...

Thank you so much for this beautiful tutorial. Just finished one for my daughter and posted it on my blog
http://childhoodmagic.blogspot.com/

Lise said...

Thank you so much for the tutorial. I made my first crown this weekend, posted here: http://inthepurplehouse.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-baby-is-1.html. My felt was too floppy, and I was too rushed and sleep deprived, so it wasn't great. But I was thrilled to have it anyway.

Pixiepurls said...

this is so cute, you should totally submit a felt tutorial to petitepurls.com luv luv luv this! You can contact allegra@petitepurls.com if you have any questions :D

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this tutorial (and your blog, I love it)

I made my son a crown for his birthday last week and have posted photos here
http://monsterknit.blogspot.com/2010/04/bit-of-craft-angus-turns-3.html

Luisa said...

I'm so keen to make a special birthday crown for my little girl, and your post is not only helpful, but inspiring. Thank you.

Annie said...

Thank you so much for the Birthday Crown Tutorial! I just finished one for our little friend turning two next week. The project was so fun! Here's a link to a few photos: http://4happyhens.blogspot.com/2011/01/winter-garden-update-plus-birthday.html

The Oakley's said...

I am so excited to make this for my son! It'll be my first sewing project, um...ever! I bought all the supplies today and plan on working on it over the next few days. Thanks for the great instructions. I have read them a few times and they seem really easy to follow.

Emily said...

Just wanted to thank you for your wonderful tutorial! I just made my darling girl a birthday crown and linked to your tutorial! Thank you!

Emily said...

Then I forgot the link...
http://simplysahm.blogspot.com/2011/11/felt-birthday-crown-almost-tutorial.html

Cristy said...

Love, love, love this idea! I have been thinking about crowns for my kids, and for the co-op children. Great Idea! Thank you so much!

Cristy said...

I am back. I made a version of this craft for my son's Christmas musical at church and my other kids want one too. You can see my post about it here: http://craftycristy.blogspot.com/2011/12/crown-craft-for-childrens-choir.html

Unknown said...

I've been looking for instructions to make a birthday crown! This is PERFECT!

Thank you so much!

Lucy | Charm About You said...

Thank you for the great tutorial! I didn't have any felt so I used cotton but it worked out great! Here's a link to have a look:
http://www.charmaboutyou.com/2012/10/attacking-wips.html
Thanks again!

Mike said...

Love it. My mom made me something similar to this. When I was 10 years old. Nothing makes a little kids birthday better then him getting a special cane that NOBODY else can wear. Key here is that NOBODY else can wear it.

Loliefightscancer said...

Thank you so much for the tutorial! I have been admiring your birthday crowns since I first started reading your blog (when you made C's crown), and since my first little one is about to have a first birthday I finally get to make one of my own! Your measurements are especially helpful. Thanks for the inspiration & great tutorial!

Alison Palmer said...

My granddaughter will look adorable in these crowns.

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