How to Make Victorian Feather Hats & Hair Clips

Victorian Era

If you yearn for the bygone Victorian era, satisfy your desire by making yourself a special treat. A bedecked Victorian feather hat and hair clip might be just the thing to wear to church or your next tea party. Stepping out in this style is sure to turn heads. Whether for a costume or as a nod to yesteryear, having a few Victorian accessories in your closet can only be a good thing.

Things You'll Need

• Floppy straw hat
• 3-4 large peacock feathers
• 2-inch-wide satin ribbon
• Hot glue gun
• Needle and thread
• Tulle
• Scissors
• Large hair clip (4 inches long)
• 1/4-inch wide satin ribbon (color to match the clip)
• Baby's breath

Instructions

Make the Hat

1. Assemble all of the materials you will use to create the hat. A Victorian hat is an extension of the wearer's personality and so can be created to look any way you wish it to look.

2. Wrap the wide satin ribbon around the crown of the hat and glue it in place.

3. Tuck 2-3 peacock feathers into the glued ribbon so that they stand up from the side of the crown of the hat. Glue them into place.

4. Thread the needle with a 12-inch length of thread and knot the thread.

5. Cut a 4- to 5-foot length of tulle and loosely wrap the tulle around the crown of the hat over the ribbon and the feathers.

6. Tack the tulle to the crown of the hat in two places by taking two small stitches. Knot the thread and clip it off. The tulle can either just trail off from the hat and down your back, be loosely wrapped around your neck or tied into a bow under your chin.

Make the Clip

1. 

   Open the hair clip with one hand and with the other hand begin to wrap the ribbon around the separated claws of the clip. Do not wrap the ribbon around the part of the clip that holds your hair, but rather the two halves near the hinge of the clip. Secure the ribbons with a bit of glue.

2. Tuck the end of the remaining peacock feather under the ribbon at one point. Be sure that the feather will not interfere with the operation of the clip. When you like where you have it positioned, glue it with the hot glue.

3. Add a sprig of dried baby's breath at the base of the feather and glue it into place.