Fairy Wings: June 2008 Archives
With my niece's 5th birthday party only a weekend away, it was clear that I needed to finish her wings.
I'd been procrastinating on this project since I thought the sewing up part of it was going to be fussy and take a long time. As it turns out, for those of you who do not measure the amount of crafting time you have by the number of naps between now and an event, a single afternoon would likely sufficient for most people, assuming all of the ties were crocheted and the wings were completed.
In order to create a more ruffly wing-like appearance from those rather rectangular pieces of lace, the pattern uses a crochet technique to gather in the wings and to create a nice edge for seaming. Then the center band is sewn down over the top. The loop at the bottom of the center band is meant to hold the ties that go over the shoulders and help keep the wings snugly in place.
Sewing the shoulder ties down required some careful stitching so as not to make them obvious on the visible side of the garment and also to make them tough enough to withstand being used as a child's plaything. I think that is the hardest thing about finishing this project. Children are hard on toys, especially toys they love, and I didn't want the ties to become detatched easily. I am a little concerned that this edge may still be fragile, but the nice thing about the Crystal Palace Kid Merino is that, just like Kidsilk Haze, the yarn has a nylon core thread, which gives it a little more durability.
Rather than weave in the ends after I sewed the wrist loops onto the wings, I secured them, trimmed them and then tied them in a bow. This both obscures the less than beautiful edge of the loop and provides for some extra little fairy gold to flutter in the breeze.
These wings spent a lot of time trying to flutter while I was taking the picture. Now all they need is a little girl to believe in their magic so they can transport her into a land of make-believe.
Pattern Details
In order to create a more ruffly wing-like appearance from those rather rectangular pieces of lace, the pattern uses a crochet technique to gather in the wings and to create a nice edge for seaming. Then the center band is sewn down over the top. The loop at the bottom of the center band is meant to hold the ties that go over the shoulders and help keep the wings snugly in place.Sewing the shoulder ties down required some careful stitching so as not to make them obvious on the visible side of the garment and also to make them tough enough to withstand being used as a child's plaything. I think that is the hardest thing about finishing this project. Children are hard on toys, especially toys they love, and I didn't want the ties to become detatched easily. I am a little concerned that this edge may still be fragile, but the nice thing about the Crystal Palace Kid Merino is that, just like Kidsilk Haze, the yarn has a nylon core thread, which gives it a little more durability.Rather than weave in the ends after I sewed the wrist loops onto the wings, I secured them, trimmed them and then tied them in a bow. This both obscures the less than beautiful edge of the loop and provides for some extra little fairy gold to flutter in the breeze.These wings spent a lot of time trying to flutter while I was taking the picture. Now all they need is a little girl to believe in their magic so they can transport her into a land of make-believe.
Pattern Details
Pattern: Fairy Wings from Boho Baby Knits
Yarn: Crystal Palace Kid Merino and Deco Stardust
Were I to do this pattern again, I would make one change for certain: ! would just stick to one color (probably the variegated colorway). I got tired of messing around with having two balls of fuzzy yarn that wanted to be best friends as I worked on the wings. I don't think it would take away from the project at all if only a single colorway were used.
I would also probably try to find a lighter weight and smoother gold tape yarn. The Deco Stardust is pretty and shiny, but I think it's a little heavy for the role it was chosen for and just a little scratchier than I would want it to be when knit up. My only hesitation in changing the yarn would be that it's also pretty tough stuff and I do think durability is important for the pieces that are going to hold the wings to the child when the wings are being played with.
This project made my husband smile when I "tried them on" to show him how they would work for our niece. When I ran around a little bit with them (yes, that is an image I will spare you of) he told me they fluttered nicely and that he thought they did really look like wings.
