Flora, Fauna and Merryweather DIY: In Which The Third Least Crafty Woman On Earth Makes Fairy Hats

When children are little we as parents have the opportunity, nay duty, to make awesome Halloween costume decisions for them before they’re old enough to object. Having acquired a third daughter I am now in the enviable position of having the required ingredients for many any fairy tale stories. Or we can do plenty of Shakespeare: Macbeth witches, Lear’s daughters… But since that’s a bit heavy this year I am fulfilling my lifelong dream (read 3 year old idea) of dressing them as the fairies from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

Strangely enough this is not an easily acquired costume. I did find an Etsy Shop to order the dresses. I long ago accepted that I cannot have children and sew. Because I am the third least crafty woman in the world. I am guessing third least because least crafty probably refuses to do any and second least probably produces horrible results. I am capable of pulling something off in a pinch in a very inefficient way while making a horrible mess and being stressed out. So third sounds like a good placement.

But back to the fairies. The Etsy shop costumes look to be gorgeous (they haven’t arrived yet so fingers crossed) but they were lacking what I consider a crucial feature: the hats. So I wandered the Internet in search of those for sale. Absolutely no luck. It appeared the third least crafty skills would need to be activated. So I looked for a DIY blog or YouTube video. Nope. Now and then I’d find a picture of somebody else’s fabulous home made fairy trio but nobody was spilling on how to make these darn hats. So I made em. And I figure I’ll share the DIY for the next least crafty mom in a bind. So without further ado:

How To Make Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather Hats

1. You will need

1. Doll size witch hats from craft store.
2. Two sheets of felt each of blue, pink, and green.
3. Needle thread and thimble
4. Scissors
5. Blue, pink, and green tulle
6. Blue, pink, and green children’s headbands
7. Fabric glue
8. Measuring tape 

I got these in the doll clothing section at hobby lobby. I bought two sizes, larger for the older girls and little for the baby.

2. Wrap cone of the hat in felt. Trim excess but no worries about perfect edges. Glue in place.

3. Trace brim of hat on other sheet of felt. Trace again so you have two circles.

Bonus points if you do this while holding fussy infant

4.Cut out circles.

5. Measure the width of the brim and then trace a circle in the centre of your larger circle based on that measurement. You can eyeball it. So long as it is centered it can be a little narrower than the base of the cone as this will overlap with your felted cone.

6. Cut out centre circle. Repeat with second brim sized circle.

7. Glue one circle to the bottom of your hat and put the other over the cone and glue to the top side of the brim.

8. Cut generous length of tulle and wrap the base of the cone. Look now the seam of your felt pieces is hidden. Hah.

9. Put headband on willing child and note where the hat would attach to it stretched.

10. Remove hat from child before sewing.

11. I wrapped the tulle so that it was along the brim inside and out rather than just on top. This prevents pulling down on the brim when we tie the hat on but it’s preference. (Make sure extra length of tulle is on outside of headband if you go with our method) Sew from bottom of hat through headband and tulle, through hat and through tulle on top. You’ll want a thimble,  it’s pretty thick at this point. Back and forth til firmly attached.

12. Stretch headband as it would be on the head and sew again on opposite side of hat.

13. Gleefully admire handy work.

The tulle is purely decorative and the hats are held on by the headbands.

In case you have kids who hate scratchy stuff under their chin.

Or have babies who have no chin, or rather, several chins.

14. Realize you still have to do costumes for your boys and they aren’t going to let you pick.

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