While I was sewing our outfits for The Force Awakens I tried to think of something I could make as a fun accessory. I didn't really feel like I had time to make a purse... or at least not the random idea I had to try and make something that looked like a lightsaber hilt but was hollow and could double as a purse. I also wanted something that I could make without spending a lot of extra money on supplies so most of the jewelry ideas I came up with were out. I finally decided that I would try to make a fascinator style hat.
It didn't turn out exactly the way I intended and I ended up not actually wearing it to the movie for a variety of reasons but I thought I would share how I made it anyway. That way if anyone is inspired to make their own they can have a starting point and learn from my mistakes.
Supplies:
4 inch Styrofoam Ball (I used one labeled Smooth Foam)
Paint in 2 shades of grey
Felt for the base
Tulle in flame colors (1/8- 1/4 yard)
Thin Gauge Wire
White Craft Glue
Needle and Thread for hand sewing or sewing machine
Clips or Hair pins to attach to head
Step One: Paint the Death Star
Even though the one I had was smoother to begin with I still painted it with gesso first. My thought was that since I was using craft paint I didn't want it to get sucked into the foam and dry unevenly. I think that if you used spray paint for the base color you could skip this step but I was trying to use up paint I already had. It ended up showing a lot of brush strokes even after I sanded it down a bit.
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| If you look closely you can still see a bit of the original texture on right hand a bit above the center. |
Paint the base grey first then add details in darker grey. I started by painting over the center seam of the ball and adding in the circle for the laser array. After that I filled in using a random pattern of squares and rectangles.
As a side note, you can see in the above picture, I stuck a few push pins in a scrap board to make a tripod to set it on while painting/ drying.
Step Two: Cut down the Death Star
At this point it seemed a bit too big for my head and I felt like a flat base would be sturdier so I cut the base off at an angle.
Step Three: Cut Base
Find a piece of felt to use as the base and trace around the bottom of the Death Star. I used red because my goal was to make it look like the Death Star was in flames. (In spite of my husband's Imperial truck and how dark side our outfits look, I'm a Rebel.)
Step Four: Create Flames
Cut small strips of tulle and gather, bunch, and smoosh them into an arrangement that gives the impression of flames. You can put the Death Star on top and hold everything in place to get a general idea of how it will look.
After that pin everything down to the felt base and sew over the ends to hold the tulle in place.
Step Five: Prepare Ships
Twist the wire around the ships to secure them. We wanted to be able to use the ships for other things later so we needed a non-permanent way to attach them. Be sure to leave an extra long tail for attaching it to the base.
Our kitten kept trying to attack the Tie Fighter so I couldn't get a good picture but the wire is wrapped against the inside of the wing on one side.
Step Six: Attach Ships
Decide how high up you want the ships to be and test the placement. Bend the wires so the ends go under the styrofoam.
Make another bend and stick the end of the wire down into the foam. Place white craft glue over the hole and the wire along the base. Initially I used a clear glue but it melted the foam a bit and didn't hold correctly. The goal is first to make sure the wire doesn't fall out, and second keep it from turning and letting the ship fall to the side.
Step Seven: Attach Clips
Choose clips and sew them on to the base on the side opposite the tulle.
This is where I made the biggest mistake. The clips I used have to bend to open and close and once everything was assembled they were extremely hard to open and close, and that is the major reason I didn't wear it to the theatre. I knew it would be a pain to get on and off and that I'd need to remove it during the film. It was easier to just not deal with it. If I were to make something like this again I would most likely just add a few loops of ribbon to stick hairpins through.
Step Eight: Final Assembly
Use craft glue to attach felt base to the bottom of the foam Death Star.
Another change I would make would be to sandwich the tulle between two pieces of felt. I tried to get a good picture of it but it didn't work out well. Basically what happened is that the felt is glued to the tulle and the tulle is glued to the foam, but the felt and foam aren't really connected.
Here's a picture of us all dressed up and ready to celebrate.
The dress uses Simplicity Pattern 1155 and both the dress and shirt use glow-in-dark fabric from Joann Fabrics. You can see how I made my earrings and the shirt for my husband in these posts:
Even if the hat didn't work out at least our cats thought it was exciting.
