Tutorial - Comic Caper

Well here goes folks here is the tutorial as promised. Please bear with me as this is my first attempt and feel free to post comments or questions if I miss something.

You will need:

Piece of A4 thin card

Piece of scrap fabric ideally fleece approx 7" x 7"

Piece of felt (ordinary craft felt will suffice) approz 7" x 7"

Cellophane

Bright coloured netting
Decorative paper (comics/newspaper/magazine/old books)

Glue gun or Super Glue

Invisible thread

Plastic comb

Cellotape

Compass

Scissors
Prit Stick

1) Take your piece of card, measure and cut a circle 14cms in diameter . You could cheat and find a bowl to draw around as the sizes are only a guide and do not have to be exact.

2) Make an inscision as illustrated with your scissors and overlap the edges by 5mm. Tape the overlap down to start creating a cone shape with your card. Do this at quarterly intervals as illustrated below.

3) Take your cut-outs and glue them to your card base, i've used comic books but you could use almost anything you like. I have then covered the base in a piece of celophane, this is optional but you may want to seal the paper. Varnish is another alternative but test it first to make sure the paper does not get damaged.

4) Cut your piece of fleece or thick fabric smaller than the base as illustrated below. It doesnt have to be exact but you want it approx 2-3cms in diamenter smaller than the base. Glue this in with your glue gun or super glue.

5) Cut your lining material (I have used craft felt) to a size in between the fleece and base sizes so approx 1-2cms in diameter smaller than the base, glue it with the glue gun. If you are using a fabric with a raw edge add a 1cm seam allowance and fold it under (you may want to pin it before glueing).

6) Attach your comb using invisible thread to the base.

7) Cut two pieces of netting and one piece of cellophane to the same dimensions as your fascinator base. Then cut a piece of net approx 3" x 1.5". Place the circles on top of each other with the celophane inbetween and sew a running/gathering stitch down the middle to create a bow shape - stitch to secure. Then take the rectangular piece and fold into a thin strip and wrap around the centre of the bow to hide the stitches - stitch to secure to bow.

8) Attach the finished bow using either invisible thread or glue and secure to the fascinator base.

Hey presto you have a Comic Caper fascinator. Please note that I quickly made up the head piece so its not perfect, obviously yours will look far better!!!

If anyone does attempt this please, please, please send me photos, so I can feature (with your permission) your work in my blog.

Happy hat making!