Some of the best things in life is seeing your little ones face when you give them a new toy … the other is spending the majority of the day sewing an awesome pair of dragon wings!
As an adult I do enjoy a bit of dress up with a fine set of fairy wings, but I am completely in love with the Dragon and Bat Wings pattern from Wife Made. It is a gorgeous pattern with clear illustrations on how to make the wings, very adaptable to the size of child and great fun in imaginative play for both boy or girl. My only advice with this pattern would be to read it all before starting, as I made a few mistakes . . . thinking I knew best . . . I’ll explain this further down the page
I really enjoy working with and adapting patterns, to individualise the final outcome. With this set of wings, I have used: the Moody Bloom Effloresce Fabric, and a yummy egg yellow batik for the body and tail of the wings, and the Blossom and Watermelon linen texture for the tail spikes.
I haven’t adapted this pattern too much but I couldn’t resist adding a little extra to the tail. With this I cut two sets of tail spikes in the Blossom and Watermelon Linen Texture fabrics, and using bondaweb to applique the lighter fabric to the darker to give a two tone effect. This worked really well as it pulled all the colours out of the main floral fabric and gave the wings a little extra fire!
My mistake and confession . . . in the pattern it asks you to use several layers of interfacing as well as wadding to bulk out the wings. I would highly recommend following the instructions exactly, I decided it would make the wings too bulky to sew through and opted to just use wadding. I regret this as the wings ended up being quite floppy and folds over the shoulder, it is however adorable when she runs and the wings flap in the wind. I am hoping a bit of starch spray will stiffen the fabric to make them stand more proud . . . fingers crossed!
I really enjoyed making these wings, and if you want any advice please don’t hesitate to ask us questions!
Happy Stitching, Alice x