I was asked how I made the wings for my angel ensemble, so thought I'd share a few pictures, and try explain the process. Like everything with this outfit, nothing ever went as I expected, and the wings were no exception. I originally drafted a pattern for an angle wing. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it. Then I came across some lace appliqués, that in my opinion, resembled feathers
There were actually two different versions of the 'feathered' appliqués, and I was originally going to use the second shorter ones for the top half of the wing. But then, when I was going through my lace stash again, I came across the folder full of the pink floral appliqués, and it was like they were just 'calling out to be used'. So I did.
The only way to show the lace to maximum advantage was to layer it between some very sheer white fabric. The sheer was too slippery to just cut out, or to pre-draw the wing shape onto, so I pinned two layers of the sheer onto the paper pattern, placed the lace appliqués on top, pinned them down, and stitched around the outside edge of both the paper pattern and the lace appliqués, leaving an opening at the shoulder so I could turn the wings right side out. After stitching, cutting out the wings, clipping the edges, and turning them right-side-out, I pressed them, then top-stitched a narrow pocket along the top edge for the wire, and top-stitched the wing to accent the embroidered appliqués inside.
I bent wire to fit into the pockets on the edge of the wings, inserted them, hot-glued the ends in place. The wire was visible through the sheer fabric, so I covered the edge with glitter to hide it. While I was at it, I also added a bit of glitter to highlight the pink floral design of the lace. I used pink glitter fabric paint, sprinkled with iridescent glitter to tone it down....
The only way to show the lace to maximum advantage was to layer it between some very sheer white fabric. The sheer was too slippery to just cut out, or to pre-draw the wing shape onto, so I pinned two layers of the sheer onto the paper pattern, placed the lace appliqués on top, pinned them down, and stitched around the outside edge of both the paper pattern and the lace appliqués, leaving an opening at the shoulder so I could turn the wings right side out. After stitching, cutting out the wings, clipping the edges, and turning them right-side-out, I pressed them, then top-stitched a narrow pocket along the top edge for the wire, and top-stitched the wing to accent the embroidered appliqués inside.
I bent wire to fit into the pockets on the edge of the wings, inserted them, hot-glued the ends in place. The wire was visible through the sheer fabric, so I covered the edge with glitter to hide it. While I was at it, I also added a bit of glitter to highlight the pink floral design of the lace. I used pink glitter fabric paint, sprinkled with iridescent glitter to tone it down....
The wires of the wings slip into narrow pockets sewn onto the back of the dress bodice.
So there you are. They were actually quite easy to do once I knew what I was doing. The
biggest challenge to making similar wings would be finding similar shaped lace appliqués.
So there you are. They were actually quite easy to do once I knew what I was doing. The
biggest challenge to making similar wings would be finding similar shaped lace appliqués.
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