No Melbourne Cup outfit is complete with spectacular head gear! You don’t need to spend a lot of money to turn heads – you can make it yourself out of your old jewelry in just a few hours.
And with Great Gatsby inspired fashion predicted to be a big trend at this year’s races, it’s the perfect opportunity to showcase the elegant headbands and decorative hair pieces of the Jazz era.
All you need is some ribbon, a needle and thread, a hair clip and some beads. While there are a kaleidoscope of beads and baubles available to buy new, this month is Buy Nothing New Month, so get inspired and dig out your old beads, mismatched earrings, strings of pearls, and diamontes and other sparkly treasures to make something truly unique!
If you don’t have a stash, op shops have a dazzling array of used jewelry.
I had a go at creating these pieces with some guidance and inspiration from Riot Art and Craft, I’m so happy with the results!
FLAPPER HEADBAND – BEADED FEATURE:
Cost of materials: $34
Time: 30 minutes
Materials:
Darice black cats eye beads 8mm
Assorted pearl pack
Assorted gemstones
Crystal black drop pendant
Black felt sheet
Black roll of braided trim
Black satin ribbon
In addition:
131563 Carnival arts and crafts mini glue gun
131780 Carnival glue sticks
137407 Teachers choice soft grip scissors
Iron
Black thread
Needle
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1. Create beaded feature
Glue a diamond to your felt.
Work your way around the diamond, using it as your central piece. Alternate between black and pearl beads until it’s the size you would like – roughly 5cm.
Top tip
Use tweezers and hold the bead to the glue gun to apply a small amount to each bead.
Once you finish, glue a ‘dangly’ bead- such as this black crystal one in-between a couple of the beads on the edge.
Step 2. Headband
To make your headband, hold the braided trim up to your head and workout how long you would like it across the front. Trim and lightly dip the ends in clear glue, this will prevent fraying.
Next cut two 30cm lengths of ribbon, and fold the tips of your ribbon inwards 1cm and iron. Hand Sew the ends under each end of the trim.
Attach your beaded feature to your preferred side, and glue in place. Tie across your forehead and in a bow at the back.
For my own piece, I followed all the steps above, but instead of creating a jewelled feature, I simply pulled apart an old necklace and sewed it on.
JEWELLED FAN HAIR CLIP
Cost of materials: $30.20
Time: 1hr – 1.5hr + 2 hours drying time
Materials:
Diamonte gems mixed box
Assorted pearl pack
Pearlised mixed beads double pack
Cream felt
Alligator clip
In addition:
Craftline garment glue
Darice white thread
Darice beading needle
Teachers choice soft grip scissors
Tweezers
Ballpoint pen
INSTRUCTIONS:
You can take a more detailed approach, as per the template supplied, or create your own design using a mix of gemstones and beads.
Step 1. Shape
Using a ballpoint pen, draw a fan shape lightly onto your felt.
Step 2. Bedazzle
Choose a mixed pack of diamontes, and choose the shapes you would like to use. Separate your chosen diamontes and beads so that you have a small pile of each shape to work with.
Squeeze a dollop of glue onto a piece of scrap paper.
Follow the shape of the fan with your first row of beads, then work downwards using rows of diamontes, pearls and more beads.
Using tweezers, dip the back of each bead into the glue as you go.
Leave flat to dry for 2 hours. Check beads are firmly in place, then cut around the edge.
Step 3. Add your strands
String two pieces of thread with corresponding beads. Glue each end to either side of the back of the fan, making sure there’s no thread visible from the front. Trim excess.
Step 4. Secure clip
Glue your clip to a circle of felt then stick on the back.
I’m thrilled with this! I can’t wait to wear it
For more tutorials and craft supplies, visit www.riotstores.com.au
For more information on Buy Nothing New Month, visit buynothingnew.com
Xp
First published on Lifestyle.com.au/penelope_quinn
I really enjoyed browsing through this. I think it’s going to go really good with the handmade stuff I found at etsy.com/shop/FlosCaeli I buy the majority of my headbands, necklaces, etc there.