Get ready for any party with this colourful fleece crown. This would make a lovely birthday gift for a special person, or you could even make a few for your friends!
You will need
For the outside: piece of yellow-and-white fleece fabric measuring 10 in x 28 (25 x 70cm)
Piece of iron-on interfacing measuring 6 x 24in (16 x 60cm)
For the lining: piece of brown polka-dot fleece fabric measuring 10 x 28in (25 x 70cm)
For the crown’s jewels: Piece of pink fleece fabric measuring 2 x 9in (6 x 22cm)
Two pieces of yellow-and-white fleece fabric measuring 2 x 6in (5.5 x 16cm)
Matching thread
Template—you will need to stick the two pieces together
Large piece of paper (such as newspaper, at least 8 x 24in/20 x 60cm)
Scissors
Pins/fabric clips
Pen/chalk
Sewing machine
Pointer
Hand sewing needle
1. Fold a large piece of paper in half. Place the crown template on the fold, as indicated on the template. Draw around the template and cut it out of the large piece of paper. Pin this onto the wrong side of the outside piece of fabric and draw around it. Ask an adult to iron on your interfacing so it doesn’t cover the bottom ¾ in (2cm) along the base.
2. Put the outer and lining fabrics together with right sides touching, and pin. Sew directly on your drawn line along the side with the triangles and then sew along the bottom straight edge. Don’t sew the two short sides. Use the hand wheel if necessary to control your stitches. Trim, leaving 3/8in (1cm) all around the crown shape. Clip into the corners and trim the peaks of the. Make sure you clip as near to your stitching as you can to give the triangles a sharp outline.
3. Pull the right side of the fabric out through one of the open sides. Use a pointer to push out all the peaks of the triangles.
4. Put the two raw edges of the outer fabric together. Sew these edges together from the inside, using an whipstitch and keeping the lining fabric out of the way. Pull your stitches tightly to make them disappear. At the end, don’t cut off your thread—keep it on the needle.
5. Now pinch the inner lining fabric together. Sew these raw edges together with a tight whipstitch. Fasten off.
6 Turn the crown so that the outside fabric is facing outward. You can now turn the bottom up by 1in (2.5cm) like a cuff to reveal the lining fabric from the right side.
7. Take one of your fleece rectangles for the jewels, fold it in half lengthwise with the wrong sides together and pin along the edge. Snip into the fold to make a fringe. Remove the pins, but keep this piece folded in half lengthwise.
8. Roll up the fringe tightly. Do a few whipstitches in the end of the fringe to secure it. Pass the needle through the center of the jewel a few times to stop it from coming undone.
9. With the needle and thread still attached, sew the jewel onto your crown with small stitches all the way around the jewel’s base until you come around to the beginning. Pull the stitches up tightly as you go. Repeat from step 7 to make and sew the other two jewels onto the front of your crown. It’s time to party!
Tip
The iron-on interfacing is left off the bottom of the crown to allow it to stretch slightly on your head. Use it on the lining too if your crown fabric is too soft and won’t hold its shape.
This extract is from Sewing Machine Basics for Children. To get more great blog posts like this one - direct to your inbox – be sure to sign up to our mailing list here.