This was another project that comes under the heading of 'scrap busting', though it was mainly that I wanted a nice little personal present for my grand-daughter's third birthday. We hadn't really been able to see much of her (out of a window, mainly) during lockdown, and although we were getting her some Lego sets, I really wanted a small personal touch as well. I'd had the Made By Jack's Mum Crowning Glory free PDF pattern for some time but to be honest had not taken much notice of it up to this point. There always seemed to be actual clothes to make, or face masks, or something else 'important'. But now seemed the ideal opportunity to try out this pattern. Here's the result. For the link, and my pattern review, read on!
The pattern and instructions can be obtained, free, on the Made By Jack's Mum Facebook page, under Files. But you need to join the group. There are 6 different head sizes - I used the Small Child size. And you can use the same pattern, cut at different points, to make a crown with an overlapping Velcro closure (this is what I did) or to have ribbon ties, or an elastic band fastening.
The first thing to say is that I really was scrap busting! The only suitable crown-y fabric I had in the stash was a couple of scraps of a purple lycra satin left over from her sister's circular skirt dress. These scraps were very odd shapes, and there was no single piece that would enable me to cut the pattern on the fold, as it should be. So I was going to have to have a central join.
I decided the best way to do this was to add a small seam allowance, which would not be interfaced, to make that central seam sit better. The left hand side is alreay cut out.
Note that I cut the interfacing out first, and effectively used this as the pattern for the slippery satin fabric. It's much easier to apply iron-on interfacing first and then cut round it, rather than trying to attach interfacing to an already cut-out piece of fabric.
The lining was also made out of a scrap of purple lining fabric. There was enough of this that I didn't need a join.
Once the two pieces are interfaced, then you attach the Velcro for the fastening, if that's the method you are using. One piece goes on the lining and one piece on the outer fabric.
You could also add embroidery or certain types of decoration to the outer layer at this stage, keeping these well away from the seams. Anything lumpy is better glued on afterwards.
The interfaced lining and outer are to be sewn right sides together and then turned out through a turning gap. I realised I would have a small problem with this, because I wanted to try and conceal the join as best I could with some embellishments. Here are some of the things I was considering. The braid and the ribbon looked pretty naff when I tried them, so the main one I was going to use was the little gold filigree square in the centre of the picture.
However, I was going to need to attach it only to the outer layer, and I would have to sew it on by hand, using the holes in the filigree to stitch through. But once it was attached, it would be very difficult to do the right sides together sewing round that central point, as it would be very close to the seams. I got round this by first just sewing that central point, and trimming it, then turning it out while the rest of the crown inner and outer layers were unattached. Having turned the point out, I sewed on the filigree square, and then turned it back so that I could continue to sew round all the other points and the rest of the crown.
I left a gap, as the instructions suggest, to turn the crown the right way out.
And this is where I come to my only problem with the pattern. Trying to turn it right side out, through the little gap, I found it actually quite difficult to pull through all the points, and it was very difficult to reach the opposite end of the crown, having made the gap close to one end. I imagine it would be even harder with the smaller sizes.
In future, I think I would leave a much larger and more central gap - possibly leaving almost all the bottom unsewn. You sew all the way round the whole crown once it's the right way out, to close the gap, so it doesn't really matter if it is a larger gap.
Finally, I glued on my more lumpy bits of embellishment to further hide the central seam. These 'gold' jewels were part of a bag of mixed jewels I'd bought from Amazon. I thought they'd be useful for pirates' treasure or other similar games. But some were requisitioned for this crown, and others have found various fancy dress uses. Yes, you can still see the seam a little, but Ada hasn't noiced it!
Overall, it wasn't a difficult make (and would be easier still if you weren't using a very slippery fabric, and had enough to be able to cut on the fold!) But I would strongly recommend a larger and more central turning hole. Ada loves it, and I would think a lot of boys and girls would be very pleased with this crown. (And adults, too, for dressing up! There are adult sizes as well.)
If you don't want the Velcro closure, you can make it to tie at the back with ribbon, or to have a piece of elastic holding it together at the back. I chose the Velcro closure because I wasn't absolutely confident about head size, and the Velcro allows for a bit of variation. (So does the ribbon closure, but I though this might slip or come undone. She can put this on herself.) But it's your choice. Overall, a nice pattern, made even nicer by the fact that it is offered free!
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