How-Tuesday: Easter Fascinator With OutsaPop Trashion

Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods
julieincharge

Story by Julie Schneider

Published on Mar 23, 2010 in Make

Earlier this year, my colleague, Matt, met Finnish trashionista Outi Pyy at the Etsy Meet Up in Helsinki. Since then, Outi and I have met virtually, and I have spent a good bit of time poring over her website, OutsaPop, soaking in her imaginative fashions crafted from discards and recycling-based tutorials. For this week’s How-Tuesday, Ms. Pyy has created an original how-to project for making your own fascinator that can easily be adapted for your own personal style. Outi told me this little tidbit that I just love: “My last name, Pyy, is a bird in Finland, and I love working with feathers and zippers, so this project would be very me.”

Wearing fanciful fascinators is a guaranteed way to get attention. I prefer them to buying pretty shoes, as flaunty hair accessories are a sure way to crown any outfit and get noticed. They also suit any hair style and are much  cooler to wear than hats. In this tutorial, I will show you how to make a hand-sewn fascinator on a round crafting felt base. They can be decorated with pretty much anything, including leftover fabrics, ribbons, cords and lace doilies… Anything lightweight will work! I enjoy a bit of humor in my dressing up, so I often use small toys, plastic flowers and other objects to decorate my fascinators.
 
I studied fashion for four years in Finland and graduated in 2000. I started to write my OutsaPop Trashion blog in May 2007, as I wanted to create a place to bring fashion trends and DIY together through tutorials and inspiration, from catwalks and fashion mag editorials. I think recycling and sustainability are also important in crafting and DIY, so I try to concentrate on projects that can be executed from reusing old materials but still have the finished item be super stylish and wearable.

 
Supplies you’ll need:
For fascinator base:
Crafting felt
A plate or small bowl
Elastic band
Scissors
Tracing chalk
Strong sewing thread
Sewing needle
Cardboard food package
 
For fascinator decorations:
Lace ribbon
Wide satin ribbon
Reused objects and toys (here an Easter decoration, birds, nest, eggs, zippers, feathers)
Bridal tulle
French hat netting
Super glue or glue gun
 
Instructions:
 

1. Take the small bowl or plate and trace two felt discs.
2. Take some lace or satin ribbon and gather it. Pin and sew it along the edge of one of the felt discs.
3. Design your fascinator. Start with adding layers in lace or tulle and toys.
4. Sew each layer on by hand. The stitches can be just a few, but they should go through all previous layers.
5. The hand-sewing should look like this from the reverse side.
6. Take the toys and glue them on with either a glue gun or super glue.
7. The birds had wires in their feet, so they were pushed through all layers and bound from the reverse side.
8. Cut a similarly sized disc from a cardboard food package, and make it slightly smaller than the felt circles.
9. Try the fascinator on, and pin the elastic band to place. It should go around the back of your head.
10. Pin and sew the other felt circle on by hand. Put the cardboard disc between them when you’re done halfway and continue sewing it inside the felt discs.

Now you’re done!

Thank you to Outi Pyy from OutsaPop for sharing this tutorial with us!

Eco-Friendly How-To’s | More How-Tuesday Posts | Euro Week

Related Items

87 comments

Sign in to add your own