Make Faux Feathers from Fabric and Wire

Photo: Jack Deutsch

There has had a wonderful reader response to the article "Millinery Marvels" by John Koch in issue no. 153, February/March 2011. Quite a few readers e-mailed me to ask about tutorials for the embellishments on the hats featured in the article, and we've been offering a series of posts here on the Threads blog.

Previous posts in this series include "How to Make a Hat Base," "Try Your Hand at Hat Trimming: Bows Without Tails," and "Make a Bow With Tails - To Trim a Hat or Embellish a Garment."

This post covers how to create the elegant and intriguing feathers that John applies to some of his hats. They are made with fabric and flexible wire - these feathers are easy to curl and gently twist into interesting shapes. John paints his feathers to give them a very realistic look.

John says that you can use a variety of fabrics to make the feathers. He suggests muslin or silk, but says you could use just about any fabric as long as it's stiffened some way in order to prevent fraying. He sizes fabric with Aleene's Stiffen Quick.

In the past he has used fabrics like doe suede (which he also uses for gloves) and just about any fabric that happens to be in the hat. That way the "feather" matches the hat.

I hope you have fun with this project! Next week, the series will conclude with a post about the "Dresden Shepherdess," a bridal hat with a veil.

Form Faux Feathers

Stiffen and trim fabric strips to make fanciful or realistic feathers. A wire center means you can curl or straighten them to your style.

1 Cut fabric to desired feather length. (Plan on a 1½-inch width for each feather.) Spray fabric with fabric stiffener. Let dry, then apply a second stiffener coat. Dry again and press if necessary.

2 Cut the fabric into strips approximately 1½-inch wide. Fold each strip in half lengthwise.

3 To make a casing for millinery wire at the feather's center, machine-sew the strips lengthwise. Sew 3/16 inch from the fold, and taper stitching toward the fold starting 1 inch from one end. Backstitch or tie off the threads.

1 | 2 next> View all

Sarah McFarland, contributor
Posted on Jan 20th, 2011 in design, online extras, embellishments, hat making, millinery embellishments, hat trimming

Comments (7)

AuntieSewandSew writes: Love the feathers and would kike to incorporate them into hats that I am making. Unfortunatly I need to make 20 hats and I am on a very limited budget. My I am planning on using faux money, most likely allowing 10 for each hat.Has anyone done these on a budget? Would love some tips.
Posted: 12:54 pm on March 9th

smcfarland writes: Dear sarasew and everyone: I contacted John Koch about his fabric preferences and he sent me an update which I've added to the post. He also gave me a tip for adding "flaws" to your feathers to make them look more realistic. Check it out, the information is added to the post. Thanks for reading!
Posted: 3:41 pm on February 1st

SewVegan writes: Thank you for this wonderful tutorial! These look fantastic, and no birds had to suffer or die!
Posted: 12:09 am on January 27th

Scrollwork writes: We could apply this technique to making fabric flowers. We'd just have to cut the strips wider for the petals, and then we could do "floral arranging" for a brooch or neckline embellishment to our hearts' content. Fabulous article, thank you! I hope I can apply this toward an upcycled garment for my Swoosh by Scrollwork shop on etsy.com.
Posted: 2:00 pm on January 25th

Katie_Kat writes: I've been working on making some fanciful bird puppets this week. Now I have a great way to embellish them to get just the look I want. Thanks for the info!
Posted: 11:12 am on January 25th

stoshman writes: Nice article. Sarasew, I would guess you could use any fabric u wished. With the varieties of cotton prints available, the possibilities are endless. I do theatrical costuming and see so many ways i could use this technique.
Posted: 3:07 pm on January 23rd

sarasew writes: what kind of material do you start with?
Posted: 11:14 am on January 21st

You must be logged in to post comments. Log in.