Making a Feather Piece

The front of my design includes a feather piece to represent the crow aspect of my Celtic War Goddess theme. I wanted to pre-make the piece to save time on the day of the show, so I can stick it onto the body without having to glue individual feathers on.

I began by taping two pieces of paper together, to make a long piece. I place this across my front and placed a dot to indicate how long I wanted the piece to be. I then used this to map out a triangle to use as a template.

 Paper Template

I then used the template to draw around on top of some wig lace (using a sharpie) I wouldn't recommend using a sharpie on wig lace because the wig lace is supposed to be invisible once applied to the skin, but I was covering it with feathers anyway so it didn't matter! (Just made life easier to see the parameters of the sewing. 

Template drawn on to wig lace

My next was to cut strips from the feather fringing, and sew them onto the wig lace. I started sewing at the top and worked my way downwards. I tried to make the feathers splay upwards and outwards to create a nice shape. 

I found it difficult to sew because I was trying not to pucker the wig lace underneath. It is a very delicate material to work with, so I also had to be careful not to rip it. 

Sewing on feather strips

I also found that the feather would flop forward, because they are only attached at the base, so I put a few stitches half way up selected feather stems, to give them stability. They didn't flop when pulled taut, but I can't guarantee that it would be as taut when glued to the model.

Finished Feather Piece

Underside of the piece

 I am really happy with how it has turned out, and I think it will add a lot of texture and substance to my design. I tried to add a few feathers to the parts that look more sparse but they still didn't splay out in the way I wanted them to, but once they're on the model they should fall to the side naturally.