How To Make Little Fairy Wings

Does your fairy need some wings? I'll show you how to make three different fairy wings so each of your fairy's can show off her unique personality.

White and Silver Fairy Wings

To make the first set of fairy wings I crocheted over the wire with silver thread and white cotton using single crochet stitches until the wire was covered all along it's length.  

For a wing template I used a cardboard butterfly. Using my bobbin lace pricking board I stuck pins all around the outside of the butterfly shape and wove the wire around the pins, wrapping the wire ends around each other to form the body and wing structure.

Using a needle and silver thread I filled in the wings with a random needl-lace-netting made with twisted insertion stitch. Instructions for how to make needle-lace can be found in Chapter 27 of The Complete Encyclopaedia of Needlework.

I used an aluminium wire which was really too soft and flexible for this project. The netting helped to strengthen the wing structure, but I had to take care not to pull them out of shape while making the netting.

Once the wings were all filled in a little bit of pushing, pulling and pinching got a shape that was almost what I was after, but there was something still not quite right.

I turned the wings upside down and voilà, perfect fairy wings!

Silver Fairy Wings

For my second set of fairy wings instead of butterfly wings as my inspiration shape I used dragonfly wings.

I didn't have cardboard to help me out with the wing shape this time and just did my best to make it as I went.

The other major difference was to wrap the wire ends down to make the 'body' of the dragonfly to provide a structural place to attach the wings to the fairy.

I used the same silver thread that I used in the white and silver fairy wings accept that I turned it into braid with the overlocker (serger). To make braid on your overlocker set it to rolled hem setting and stitch in air or over yarn.

I then used the braid to crochet over the wire and for stitching the wing netting.

I was pretty happy with my little netting wings but thought that our fairy's needed some wings that were a bit easier to make. After all not everyone can stitch and crochet.

Gold Fairy Wings

For the final set of fairy wings I used some card making butterfly cut-outs that hadn't cut very well and weren't good enough to use for card making. You can use any butterfly or wing shape for this project.

Once you have your cardboard wings cut out, a quick lick of paint in a colour that suits your fairy is next. I painted both sides and I didn't even wait for the paint to dry before flipping them over. A bit of textural difference just helps add to the beauty.

I scrabbled through all my shiny things and came up with some sequins and sticker-gems.

I used gold gems and sequins on one set of wings.

To attach the sequins I used a good old fashioned glue stick but I should have used craft glue or the hot glue gun for a longer lasting adhesive. Then I just sprinkled on the sequins as though they were glitter. I'm a huge fan of glitter but it gets everywhere and so I've banned it from my sewing/craft room. I added a few gold gems on the tips and down the centre of the wings.

On the other set of wings I used silver sticker-gems all around the edges.

Bend the first set of wings so they look as though they are in flight and glue them on top of the second set. To show your gems to best effect position the top wings slightly offset by moving them down a little lower then the bottom set.

Okay, so now you've got some fairy awesome Fairy Wings you need a fairy to give them to right? Just head right on over to find out how to make a Tiny Christmas Fairy with Sarah.

This post is part of the Fairy Merry Christmas Blog Hop.

If you're new to Fairy Merry Christmas be sure to check out yesterday's fairy creative Tiny Christmas Fairy over at Sarah Celebrates.

The next fairy stop is with Pili over at My Sweet Things I can't wait until tomorrow to see what fairy wonderful creation she has in store for us.

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