Christian woefully wishing he had a crown as nice as his friend's...or maybe he wishes he had a poncho.
Making a crown out of felt is laughably easy; the entire thing can be handstitched in a sitting while watching your kids play.
The trick is to put together a decent pattern – one that is crown-like. A crown that is too tall or pointy turns jester-like very quickly. Best is to cut out a simple crown out of paper and try it on your kid until it feels right and then to use it as a pattern. Our pattern was sketched by hand and consisted on two pieces: the front pointy bit and the back strap.
We made crowns for one of our Waldorf in the Woods crafts.
You will need
1/3 yard of felt in a color of your choice (we like to wet the felt and put it in the dryer for more texture)
1/3 yard coordinating ribbon
1/3 yard elastic, about an inch thick
embroidery floss and needle
1. Cut the crown pattern out so that the bottom is on the fold. You’ll be cutting two pieces of felt: one is the three crown points in the front, the other is a basic rectangle folded for the back. Both are cut on the fold.
2. Cut the back piece of felt slightly longer than you need, so there is growing room. The elastic will cinch it up.
3. Using regular thread and needle, sew on the ribbon at the bottom of the crown. Make sure to fold the ends of the ribbon under and in between the two pieces of crown. You can tape the ribbon ends if they are tending to fray. The tape will be hidden.
4. Sew the front top of the crown closed along the top using a blanket stitch and embroidery floss.
5. Blanket stitch along the top of the crown back too.
6. Then, with the elastic inserted inside the back strip, put the whole thing slightly inside the front crown piece and pin. Sew together firmly.
7. Then stretch the elastic and cinch up the back piece of felt and repeat on the other side.
Finished!
These are great for everyday play and make terrific gifts as well. Last year I machined-stitched a half dozen crowns as birthday favors for Christian’s first birthday. I vastly prefer the handstitched ones I’ve made since.
The spring crown I'm making for my neice, Noi naa.