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Maker Team member Kasia of @theadventuredept is giving us the royal treatment with her newest tutorial. This elegant set of crown jewels makes a beautiful addition to any costume or dress-up collection. And no one will dream it is made almost entirely of felt!
Customizable to fit any royal costume and wearable for all sorts of creative play long past Halloween, this three-in-one project will surely satisfy the little (or BIG) rulers in your life. The crown, orb, and scepter are inspired by European royal regalia and are the perfect project to use up that sheet of metallic felt you’ve been saving. No need to sacrifice opulence for comfort and wearability when using gleaming golden felt! While you’re at it, haul out your sparkly bits and bobs to make it your own. More is definitely more!
Skill Level: Beginner / Intermediate
Time: 1-2 hours for Crown, Less than 1 hour each for Orb and Scepter
Additional Supplies:
Crown Jewels Pattern (click to download)
Crown SVG Cutting File (click to download)
4" Plastic Ornament or Ball
Rhinestones, Beads and Sequins - optional
Gold Craft Paint
Paint Brush
Iron
Electronic Cutting Machine - optional
NOTE: Pattern makes a crown with an approximate 20” circumference, which is a good fit for a younger child. Scale pattern up or down or add an extension for larger heads.
Directions:
Crown
1. Cut one strip of Nutmeg felt and one strip of fusible interfacing, each measuring approximately 4 x 22”. Follow manufacturer’s instructions to apply interfacing to felt.
2. Cut pattern pieces from corresponding materials in one of the following ways:
a. By Hand: These pattern pieces have a lot of small details but can be cut successfully with patience and a pair of detail scissors. Print the Crown Jewels Pattern at 100% (unless adjusting the size.) It will print on three pages and need to be lined up and taped.
b. By Cutting Machine: While some details, like the rounded flowery bits, pose a bit of a challenge for a machine like the Cricut Maker, I used this method and found the minor over-cutting wasn’t very noticeable once assembled and adorned. If you have access to a machine like this, give it a try on plain felt first to ensure you are happy with the result. A Crown SVG file is included above.
c. By Hand with a Cutting Machine: If you don’t want to cut with a machine, but have one at your disposal, use the drawing function and a fine point pen to draw the pattern pieces onto the wrong side of the felt. It is easier than using freezer paper and much quicker than hand tracing. Follow the lines and cut by hand.
3. After cutting the interfaced felt, use metallic craft paint to paint the white interfacing. This helps hide any unsightly white bits that end up peeking out.
4. Hot glue wrong sides of METALLIC BASE 1 and 2 to wrong side of Nutmeg BASE. The interfacing should be sandwiched between. Center the larger of the two metallic pieces on the interfaced crown base first, then use the second metallic piece to connect the crown. All three seams should be offset.
Pressed for time or looking for a minimal look? You can stop here and have a perfectly cute and simple crown or...
5. Add details! Cut narrow strips in varying widths the full length of glitter and metallic felts for border details. It requires more than one to make it all the way around the circumference of the crown. I used approximately ¼ and ⅛” wide pieces. As an optional step, use the scallop shears on one long edge of each. Hot glue border pieces above and below the alternating circle/diamond pattern. Try layering a wider metallic felt with a narrow glitter felt for extra detail!
6. Cut the DETAIL 1 and 2 pattern pieces from metallic or glitter felt. Glue in place as indicated on pattern.
7. Sew on sequins, beads or rhinestones. While hot glue will work, sewing the jewels on strengthens the bond between the layers of the crown and keeps little royal fingers from plucking off embellishments.
Flower Orb
1. Cut two ½” strips of glitter felt - one long enough to fit around circumference of the ornament and the second half that length. For the 4” ornament shown, you need approximately a 13” piece and 6 ½” piece. Use scallop shears on long edges.
If using an ornament, cut an X in the center of the shorter piece to allow it to slide over the hanger.
2. Sew or glue jewels and sequins at regular intervals along both strips.
3. Slide the shorter strip over the ornament hanger (if applicable) and glue approximately halfway down the orb. Glue the longer piece around the “equator” of ornament and trim any excess.
4. To make a flower, cut pieces according to pattern. Twist the end of a 4” length of pipe cleaner into a small ball.
Glue CENTER into a cone and then slide onto pipe cleaner. Glue (generously) in place. Carefully glue RUFFLE along the wide end of the cone.
Attach three petals evenly around the base of the cone, then glue the remaining three in a layer below, offset from the first row.
5. Cut a 5” length of pipe cleaner and fold in half. Thread through the ornament hanger. Glue a “leg” along the center of LEAF 1 and the second “leg” along the center of LEAF 2. Top with the second LEAF 1 and LEAF 2 pieces and press down.
6. Center the flower between the leaves. The flower should be hovering about 2” above the orb. Use the excess pipe cleaner to wrap around the ornament hanger and glue in place.
7. Cut a ½ x 2" piece of glitter felt. Glue around wrapped pipe cleaner.
Eagle Scepter
1. Glue dowel and large pom together. In the example a painted wooden ball was used in place of a pom-pom.
2. Cut EAGLE pieces from metallic and glitter felt and assemble. I used a Cricut to draw the pattern pieces onto the felt and then hand cut. These are too small to be rotary cut successfully.
Follow the placement guide on the pattern and glue details to the right side of one EAGLE.
3. Cut an 8” length of pipe cleaner. Fold into a loop with two “legs.” Glue pipe cleaner to the wrong side of the belly of unadorned EAGLE piece. Pipe cleaner legs should stick out from the bottom. Sandwich with embellished EAGLE layer and neatly glue around all edges.
4. Glue the pipe cleaner legs down either side of the pom-pom and wrap any excess around the dowel, gluing as you go.
5. Cut small strips of gold or metallic felt, trimming edges with scallop shears if desired, and glue over the pipe cleaner bits to secure and hide them. Wrap a short section around the base of the ball, cutting any excess.
6. Add a jewel or two if you’re getting swept up in the excess of the moment!
"The Craft is done! Long live the Craft!"
You may want to make a few bits of regalia if you have multiple would-be monarchs running around. These crowns will almost certainly inspire wars of succession. There’s such a wide range of gorgeous colors of Benzie metallic and glitter felt - it will be hard to stop yourself making a whole armory!
Bonus: The “ermine” cape in the photos is half of an inexpensive faux sheepskin rug with little triangles of Benzie's Black glitter felt hot glued to it!
Thanks to Kasia for designing and writing this tutorial! You can see more of her work on Instagram @theadventuredept. Stay tuned for more tutorials from the Benzie Design Maker Team!
