For example: Sometimes in life, one finds oneself needing to make a crown.
Having accidentally stumbled upon an easy but snazzy crown formula, I thought I'd share. Supplies: felt, ribbon, needle and thread.
It didn't occur to me to take pictures in progress, but the concept is so simple that I think I can explain. That's the completed crown in the picture below. You're looking at two pieces of felt folded together lengthwise (meaning, the top edge is where the fold is happening). One, red, is about 16" x 14". The other, very dark green, is about 15" x 12". I put the green one on top of the red one, folded them both in half, and stitched them together (under the place where the ribbon would later lie) just to keep them steady. Then I lay the ribbon where I wanted it and stitched it in place. Voila.
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| Completed crown, one size fits all. |
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| Detail. |
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| And here's how it looks on your noggin. |
Also sometimes in life, the friend for whom one is making a crown has a toddler who would probably enjoy a crown, too, especially if Mommy is wearing one. Supplies: felt, ribbon, elastic, needle and thread.
I decided to give this one a more traditionally crowny look. Below, I've piled together three pieces of felt (sorry, I didn't think to measure this time), each one, after some testing and experimentation, cut in a slightly different shape. I stitched them together to keep them steady (under where the ribbon would later lie). Then I stitched on the ribbon, which is merely ornamental on this crown, because, as part of my lifelong commitment to not providing my friends' children with strangulation devices, I decided to close this crown with elastic rather than with a long ribbon that needs to be tied. (This crown uses flat pieces of felt, no folding.)
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| Crown sans elastic closure. |
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| Here's how this one looks on your noggin, except that technically it's made for a three-year-old's noggin and doesn't actually fit me. I held it onto my head and took this picture pre-elastic. |
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| Then I added this crisscross elastic to the back. |
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| Detail. |
Voila!