Hair band with feathers

1   Measure the length of the hair band and add 6cm. Draw this length up on the back of a piece of leather. The width should be about 4cm.

2   Cut off the sketched strip.

3   Cover the hair band with special extra strong double-sided tape – both on the outside and the inside and remove the protective layer.

4   Put the inside of the leather on the inside of the hair band. Make sure there is 3cm extra at each end.

5   Cut the corners at an angle to achieve a great finish. Cut approx. 3-4mm from the edge of the hair band, so you cannot see any of the plastic of the hair band when the leather is folded around it.

6   Start by turning the pointed end tip of the leather inwards. Then fold the strip of leather towards the middle of the hair band as you go along. Don’t worry if the sides do not reach completely and if they make a crack. This small crack will be covered by glue and feathers. If the sides fold over each other, you can trim them to make them smaller.

7   Cut away all the downy bits of the feather, leaving only the best outer feather. You will need to cut quite a lot of feathers.

8   Start by gluing on the feathers with a glue gun approx. 1/3 up on the hair band. Then work downwards by making each new feather cover a bit over the previous one. Glue a small piece at a time to avoid the glue drying up. When you reach one end, turn the hair band and continue with the remaining 2/3. Start at the same place as before and work down towards the other end.

9   For the floral decoration you will need to cut approx. 15 small leaves of your desired size. Make a hole at one end with revolving punch pliers.

10   Cut a piece of 1mm thick leather cord measuring approx. 50cm and feed the cord through the holes in the leather leaves. To make the decoration more exciting, you can alternate between different colours of leather, and between front and back of the leather leaf.

11   Gather all the leaves onto the middle of the cord and tie the cord hard together with a reef knot.

12   Turn the decoration so that the back is facing upwards and thread a coconut wooden bead onto one of the cords. Make an ornamental flourish with the card and glue the cord securely with a glue gun. With the same cord make another ornamental flourish with another wooden bead on and glue securely in place.

13   With the other cord make a single ornamental flourish with a wooden bead on and glue securely in place. Cut the two cord ends to length.

14   Pull a metal disc onto each cord end and glue with Super Attak Instant Glue. Alternatively you can use Clear Marker as glue.

15   Turn the flower decoration face up. Find three beautiful, long feathers and remove the bottom downy bits of the feathers. Glue on the feathers between the leaves of the flower.

16   Glue the entire flower decoration onto the hair band with a glue gun 1/3 up where the two opposite directions of feathers meet. The hair band is now ready for use.