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Quick and Easy Birthday Crowns

Today’s contributor is Jill from Snugglebug University.  All posts written by Jill for Make It and Love It can be found HERE.

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Hi, it’s Jill from Snugglebug University.  It’s beginning to be birthday season at my house…which means lots of requests for crowns around here!  I’m so excited to show you how to make two different variations, perfect for the prince or princess in your life.

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My oldest daughter is all about birthday parties, and she absolutely LOVES planning hers to every last detail.  We’ve done Strawberry Shortcake, and a rainbow tea party, and now this year it looks like it might be a fairy party.

The party may all be about fairies, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want a crown.  I happily obliged because, with her turning 7, I realize that there might not be much longer that she is requesting things like crowns!

She came up with two types of crowns that she wanted…(she drew me elaborate pictures!) and we tried to figure out the best way to make them happen.

The first crown is puffy and regal.

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The second is your more typical birthday crown, but it’s tiny!  Although you could totally use this tutorial to make a bigger version, too.

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Two crowns…both held on with elastic!

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There’s a secret, though, to these little crowns.  They keep their shape really well because of their base, which is made out of an….embroidery hoop!  Awesome, right?  And because embroidery hoops come in lots of different sizes, you can totally pick how big you want to make your crown.

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The crowns come together really quickly, and can be embellished with jewels and rhinestones.  If you love the trim section at your fabric store, this is a project for you!  For the pink crown I used some trim and rhinestones.

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For the purple crown I used some wood stars that I painted gold to match the gold floral wire I got for the crown.

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The white feathery trim was from the “cut by the yard” section too.

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Two crowns…and I can’t decide which one I like best.  What do you think?

 

Are you ready to get started? 

Supplies for the purple crown:

  • An embroidery hoop (your choice of size.  I used a 6″ hoop, but the inner ring was only about 5 inches in diameter).
  • 1/3 yard fabric  (this purple fabric is from the costume section at Joann’s)
  • Flat Aluminum wire (found in the floral department) and wire cutters to cut it
  • 21 inches of trim (This is the white fluffy trim that surrounded the base)
  • A hot glue gun
  • A piece of felt cut to match the size of your embroidery hoop
  • Poly-fil
  • a puff ball for the top of the crown
  • wooden stars
  • gold acrylic paint for the stars
  • approximately 21 inches of 1/8th inch elastic (Measure your child to see that they are comfortable with.  Mine ended up being about 18 inches from one side of the crown to the other, but I added a few inches on each side for tying ease.)

Supplies for the pink crown:

  • An embroidery hoop.  I used one with an inner diameter of about 3 inches.
  • template **NOTE**
  • Rhinestones (optional)
  • hot glue gun
  • ~11 inches of trim to go along the base of the crown
  • Small fabric scraps for the crown.  1/4 yard is sufficient, and lightweight cotton fabric is fine.
  • Small pieces of Peltex stabilizer.  I used 71F Single sided ultra firm stabilizer, but a double sided stablizer might be even better.
  • Basic sewing supplies (here’s a list of common sewing supplies, in case you need a few ideas)

 

*Note that you are only going to use the inner ring of the embroider hoop for both crowns.

**The template does not include seam allowances.  You’ll need to add your preferred seam allowances to all sides. 

***As always, if you need a bit of help with the basic sewing skills used in this tutorial, don’t hesitate to check out the Sewing 101 post for more help.

 

Let’s start making the purple crown first.  Start by cutting out a circle that is about twice the size, in diameter, of your embroidery ring.  I found a dinner plate to be about perfect for tracing out a circle this size.

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Next, gather up the circle by sewing a gathering stitch all along the outside of the circle.

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Adjust the gathers so that the edge fits the size of the embroidery hoop.

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Your crown needs to be attached with 1/8th inch elastic, and you’ll just need to tie each side of the elastic to the opposite sides of the hoop.   You will also need to loop the metal wire around the hoop.  I left two areas on opposite sides of the ring unglued (so I could slide the elastic and metal embellishments in.)   If you think of your ring as a clock, I leave a small open (unglued) region at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock.  If you are having a difficult time maneuvering the fabric, you can use clips to help keep the fabric in place as you glue each section.

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It’s pretty simple to glue the fabric on with your hot glue gun.  It should look like this:

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Loosely stuff with poly-fil.

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Then hot glue gun a felt piece that is the same size as your ring (I just traced my ring). Remember to leave open region unglued(so that you can fit the elastic through).

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Now tie in your elastic to the crown.  I used about 21 inches of 1/8 inch elastic, but I’d recommend measuring your child and what he/she feels comfortable with. Mine turned out to be about 17-18 inches plus a few extra inches for tying the knot on each side). 

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Now it’s time to slip in the floral wire. You’ll need 2 pieces of about 11.5 inch flattened floral wire.  You’ll need wire cuttters to cut it.  I folded the wire around the hoop (in the areas you left unglued above) and then glued the wire in place on opposite sides.

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Fold over and then glue the wire to hoop.

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  I used a smaller piece of wire to wrap around the wire in the center, where the two pieces of metal intersect.

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You are almost finished!  Just glue trim to the edge of the crown.

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If desired, use acrylic paint to paint some wooden stars and hot glue them to the crown.  The top star I attached to the crown by adding the wood star to a white puff ball that I hot glued to the center of the wire.

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All finished!

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Alright, now it’s time to work on the pink crown!  So gather up your supplies and let’s get started!

The crown template does not include seam allowances, so you’ll want to add them when you cut your crown pieces out of fabric.

You’ll also need to cut out a piece of stabilizer, but you can just cut out the template size. You want your peltex to be smaller because you do not want it to be included into your crown seams.

**A note about using a heavy-weight stabilizer:  This Peltex is tricky to sew through.  I use a heavy duty needle in my machine (the same that I use when sewing denim) so that I don’t break my needle. To attach the Peltex to your fabric, follow the directions that come with the stabilizer.  Basically, put shiny adhesive side on wrong side of fabric. Iron on fabric side (not Peltex side).  Iron on high, putting pressure as you iron.  Cover with a damp cloth and press firmly for 10-15 seconds, lift and move to next area until the entire area is adhered.  Remove damp cloth and iron to remove extra moisture.

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Fuse your stabilizer to the wrong size of one of your crown pieces.

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Next make a sandwich of your crown pieces, and sew around all of sizes, leaving the base open.

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Carefully clip the valleys on the crown (be careful not to cut the seam!)

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Then turn your crown right side out.  If you used a two sided stabilizer, you can iron the stablizer to attach it to the other side of the fabric.

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Fold in the base of the crown and top-stitch all around the base.

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Now check your crown to see how it fits around the embroidery hoop.  Since you’ve added a seam.  You should have just enough “extra” to sew the two ends together. Then place your hoop inside to make sure it fits.

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Just as with the previous crown, tie on your elastic to your hoop, and use a hot glue gun to attach the crown to the embroidery hoop.

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After you’ve attached your crown, use a hot glue gun to attach any extra rhinestones and trim.

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All finished!

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Thank you so much for having me here on Make It and Love It!  For more sewing projects make sure to check out my blog!

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Jill

Jill is a mom of two little girls, a scientist by training, and a maker at heart. She loves to sew, draft, craft, and create both for her kids and her house. You can read more about her creative journey on her blog, www.snugglebuguniversity.com.

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Hi, I'm Ashley

Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!

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