Tinkerbell Wings Tutorial

This is a tutorial for how I made the wings for the Tinkerbell costume I made as a commission. It is similar to the tutorial on firefly-path.net since that is what I first used to figure out to make the wings for my Primera costume. But I have found that there are some things I prefer to do differently. One thing I do is make the wings to be worn with a corset or at least a corset-like garment. These wings are slipped into the costume for wear to avoid unsightly straps.

For pictures of the completed costume you can check out the entry for it on ACP: [link]

Materials needed: wire(I think I used a 14 gauge if I remember right), pliers, wire cutters, tape(I had some painters tape lying around but I would have preferred to use masking or duct), organza, sharp fabric scissors, pins, low temp hot glue gun, matching glue sticks, sparkly fabric paint, paint brush, craft foam, other scissors.

1. Cut out appropriate lengths of wire and bend them into the shapes. Leave excess tails of wire. I find it helpful to tape the tails together near the base of the wings.

2. For each wing section cut out a piece of organza that is vaguely the same shape with a generous excess of fabric.

3. Overlap the excess organza and pin into place. This is when you make sure the fabric is pulled as taut as you want it.

4. Work on one wing section at a time. Carefully unpin a small section of organza at a time and run a line of hot glue down the wire between the layers of organza. As you do this press the layers of organza together to get a good seal. Personally I find that with using the low temp hot glue gun I can do this with my fingers and not be bothered. But if the heat bothers you, you may want to find some other tools to help you with this part. (I've also switched wing sides in this picture.)

5. Carefully trim away the excess organza. You don't want to accidentally tear into your wing fabric.

6. Finish each wing section.

7. Now is the time to add designs and more flair to your wings if you would like. I like to use sparkly fabric paint. The first thing I like to do is use the paintbrush to paint along the edges to help mask the cut edge of the organza. After that dries I just squirt it right out of the tube onto the fabric for the designs. Do your best at having a steady hand for this. Go back and and fill and blend in any little bits of line that may have been missed. If you want to be really careful about having your designs symmetrical it helps to do something like draw our your design on something else first, lay your wings on that, then trace the design onto the wings since you can see through the organza quite easily.

8. Shape and tape the excess wire into a sort of U shape.

9. Cut out squares of craft foam. Sandwich and glue the wire between squares of craft foam. Layer more craft foam squares onto the side that will be facing the back for extra cushion and comfort. As an optional step you can also cover this with fabric after building up the craft foam if you would like.

10. Slip the wings into the costume. The wings are ready to be worn!