Birthday Crown Tutorial - and free pattern

Even though my littlest is almost a year and half , I am finally getting around to posting this. For her first birthday I wanted to make something other then the usual party hat for her to wear. And since trying to get her to keep something on her head or in her hair is nearly impossible, it had to be super soft and lightweight. 

 Enter - the felt crown! I used a really soft organic felt and decorated it with felt flowers and embroidery. Soft and light = she doesn't realize it is there....for a couple minutes anyway :)

It is held together in the back with FOE, so it stays snug, but not too tight. Want to make one?

Here is what you do:

You will need a few things (or a lot of things...depending on how crazy you want to embellish....trust me, these are slightly addicting to make, or maybe it is just me!)

Download the free crown template here, or you can draw your own.

First,  a large piece of felt for the main crown ( a 12" x 10" sheets is perfect) and some scraps to decorate with.

Then, some FOE (fold over elastic) or any elastic to sew in the back. Various things to decorate the crown with (embroidery thread, buttons, felt shapes, felt numbers or letters....)

 Using the crown template (you can download here) , cut 2 crown shapes out of the large peice of felt, don't worry if they are not perfect you will trim them later. Also, cut a piece of FOE/elastic about 4"- 4.5" long

Lay out your decorations on the crown, move them around until you are happy with the layout

Sew them down, I like to keep them on the one felt crown and move one piece at a time to the second crown so I do not forget my layout. Using embroidery thread, embellish as much as you wish

When you are done, place the decorated crown on top of the other blank one and line them up the best you can. Sew them together along the top and bottom edge. Use a very small seam allowance (between 1/8" and 1/4")

I like to use my zipper foot (because it is the slimmest foot, and it helps to go over any embellishments that I may have sewn to close to the edge) Sew SLOWLY!

When you are done, your felt will most likely stretch a bit or slip like mine

Just take a pair of very sharp scissors and trim the seam allowance  so the front and back are neat. Trim the sides as well

Take your piece of elastic and tuck it into one of the sides (about 1/2") pin it in.

Tuck the other end into the other side (making sure not to twist the elastic) and pin it.

Sew along the short ends to keep the elastic in place, and You are done!

A beautiful crown, for birthdays or whatever occassion

No matter what age...

Have fun making your own....and trying to keep your little one from pulling it off!