When I was planning my recent photo shoot with Studio81, one of the looks we were going to do was a pinup bride. I decided I needed a cute little birdcage veil to match the champagne Monica dress.

To make this facinator, you only need a few things-

-Hat netting

-Fabric to make the bow (alternatively you can use a hair brooch like this one)

-Any extra decorations like the rhinestone button I use

To make the bow-

Step one:

Fold the fabric in half and create a paper pattern to guide you for cutting it out.
Pin it into place.
You can do any size you want, and a square shape will give you more pleats than a rectangle shape.
I can’t remember what measurements I ended up using (usless, I know!) but I’m pretty sure it was 13cm square.

 

Step two:

Once it’s cut out, stitch along the perimeter. I hand-sewed it because I couldn’t be bothered re-threading the machine.
Leave a gap unstitched in the middle so you can do Step Three

Step Three:

Turn it inside out through the gap you left unstitched

Step Four:

Now stitch to close the gap

Step Five:

Pleat the square evenly and pin it into place.
Stitch through the middle to secure it

Step Six:

Cut a long strip and wrap it around the middle. I was rushing to do this for the photoshoot so didn’t bother with making it super neat and tidy. It might be a good idea to overlock the edges.

It should look something like this-

Step Seven:

Now pleat the netting into position. Make sure you are holding it up in your hair to see how the netting will look. This is a little tricky and can take a couple of attempts.

Step Eight:

Do lots of stitches over the netting to make sure it stays in place. Trim off any excess at the top. You will also want to cut the netting to a roundish shape. Just try it on and see what’s going to look good and trim little bits at a time.

Step Nine:

Now add any extra bling or leave the bow plain!

I just slid a duckbill clip through the middle loop to attach it to my hair.

And Voila!

x Miss Victory Violet

Also another big thank you to Studio81 for the shots and Floral Stylist for the gorgeous bouquet! Read the blog post about the lovely Monica dress here.