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View Full Version : Fairy wings...How to make them?



Mermaid Saphira
08-27-2011, 02:34 PM
So to raise money for my sequin tail I've decided to make and sell fairy wings at a local farmers market.
Only problem is...I'm not sure how to make them. I want to learn how to make the kind with the bar that
goes down your shirt (I like them for realism). If any of you know how or have made them, do you mind
sparring some tips and advice for a good professional look? A website or video would work to.
Thanks so much you guys! *Hugs and Fishes Dreams and Wishes*

Winged Mermaid
08-27-2011, 02:58 PM
Do you want nylon, fabric, or cellophane wings? I've made a few and know some information. I'm no expert but I could point you in the right direction at least!

Mermaid Saphira
08-27-2011, 03:00 PM
Anything realistic would be best...I like the sound of the cellophane wings though mostly because I am planning to make dragon fly wings : )

mermanjr
08-27-2011, 03:21 PM
well hanger wire and delphinous materail which they sale in craft stores would work best for a project like that aqua
and us hair scrunggees for the straps or bands which you can find in office depot

Mermaid Saphira
08-27-2011, 03:37 PM
Thanks for the idea :) but I'm making a the kind with the bar that goes down the back of a shirt...not straps.

Winged Mermaid
08-27-2011, 04:45 PM
I've seen nice dragon fly wings made out of nylon and cellophane. I don't know if you've ever heard of the Fancy Fairy, but she's pretty much THE professional cellophane wing maker. She's good to look to for inspiration if you ever want to branch out in designs.

Nylon wings are easier, cheaper, and less time consuming IMO. Here's the go to tutorial that people use for those:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YAUxeopgNw

You can modify those to meet you need with the back brace.

With cellophane wings, I learned from the first two tutorials listed and picked up tips and tricks from all over. These are the kind of wings I've made cellophane wise:

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc227/winged_mermaid/My Fairy Wings/IMG_0194-1.jpg

I started writing a tutorial years ago but I never finished. I can tell you materials and tips though.

Materials:
14 gauge galvanized steel wire from the hardware store
12 gauge galvanized steel wire
wire cutters and pliers
floral tape from craft store (they carry lots of colors)
cellophane from craft store (I'd suggest 2 rolls for a pair)
thin clear vinyl from fabric store like JoAnns
spray adhesive
electrical tape
iron or heat gun
soldering pen and solder (optional- I use it to make sturdy veiny frames)

I drew my wing frame design on a piece of cardboard, then I shaped my wire to it. If you have a more complicated design like this on you'll have a lot of pieces. Repeat for other wing. With wings with a back brace, try and make the main frame all one piece if possible for extra stability. I solder my pieces together with a soldering pen for more stability, but with a simple design you can use electrical tape to secure joints. I like to cut out additional wire of the 12 gauge to add to the back brace for a good sturdy brace. You can use one or two extra lengths and attach them- whatever you feel is study (can depend on size, shape, and complexity of frame). Secure these well. Once all joints are secure, wrap the whole frame in floral tape. Cut out 4 pieces of vinyl large enough to cover the wing and then some. Cut cellophane to cover the vinyl. Working with one piece at a time, spray the vinyl with spray adhesive then carefully put the cellophane down on the vinyl, avoiding as many hair pockets as you can and smoothing out the rest. You may need two people for this. You can crinkle the cellophane before or leave it as is depending on what look you're going for. Repeat for all pieces. When done, take two pieces of the vinyl-cellophane membrane and spray them with adhesive, then sandwhich the wing frame between them. Try and get as much of the material to stick together as you can while avoiding as many air pockets as you can. This pair of wings was done with cellophane side out for more color, but you can also do cellophane side in for more durability. You could even put cellophane on both sides of the vinyl if you want. Heat seal your wings so the material will really stick together well with either an iron (use a pressing cloth, newspaper or something similar) or a heat gun. Cut off excess membrane into the shape you'd like, leaving a an inch or so around the frame. Heat seal edges well.

A lot of people leave their cellophane wings plain, but you can paint or sharpie or whatever you want on them to give them more flair. If you want cut out parts of the membrane (you can't use incense like in the fabric tutorial). I talked to Twig about wing making years back, and she said she pretty much does exactly what I do for her wings.

A list of wing tutorials:

- Faerie Muse Cellophane Wing Tutorial http://www.freewebs.com/faeriemuse/constructiontutorial.htm

- Faery Wing Creation (cellophane, nylon, and fabric wing tutorial) http://www.angelfire.com/magic/rosemilk/wingsmain.html

- (Fabric) Rainbow Wings Tutorial http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=60297.0http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=60297.0

- Resin Coated Cellophane Wings How To http://www.instructables.com/id/Runway-On-Fire/step30/Wings-1/http://www.instructables.com/id/Runway-On-Fire/step30/Wings-1/

- Fairy wing pictures and tutorials (cellophane, nylon ,and fabric wings) http://community.livejournal.com/craftgrrl/4871947.html

- Cellophane Fairy Wings http://community.livejournal.com/faeriefashion/747646.html

- Make your own fairy wings (article with links) http://www.diylife.com/2007/10/20/make-your-own-fairy-wings/

- Emily Autumn's Fairy Wing How To Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YAUxeopgNw

- Picture Tutorial Cellophane Wings http://flickr.com/photos/21538169@N03/sets/72157604210450197/

- Multi Layer Cellophane Wings http://faeriefashion.livejournal.com/1187682.html#cutid1http://faeriefashion.livejournal.com/1187682.html#cutid1


Also if you want more information or help, a great place to find that is the Faerie Fashion community on LiveJournal (http:// http://faeriefashion.livejournal.com/profile). Highly recommended!

If you're unsure of your design, browse through some online galleries. There are tons of pictures of festivals where the fairy community goers love to hang out and they have wings of all kinds. Also you can look at wing makers for inspiration.

Mermaid Saphira
08-27-2011, 05:56 PM
Thank you SO MUCH Winged!!! BTW Amazing work on your cellophane wings! I've herd of Fancy fairy and I saw her site, she inspired me greatly! I also found a website that was very helpful http://www.freewebs.com/faeriemuse/ Her wings are much like yours. I greatly apperciate all of your help! All of you... I will post pictures soon of my finshed project(s) going shopping for materials soon!!

Mermaid Saphira
08-27-2011, 06:04 PM
Here are some designs I'm going to work on......
Whatta think of them??

1137

1138

Mermaid Aqua (c) Copyright 2011

Winged Mermaid
08-15-2012, 02:09 AM
Did you ever get around to making the wings Aqua?

Mermaid Saphira
08-15-2012, 03:55 PM
^ Not yet, I'm really busy making alot of tails for my friends and a new (surprise) one for my self! I will try to eventually get around to it, if I can find the wire :P

Raayvhen
08-15-2012, 05:20 PM
I was wondering if that Emilie Autumn vid would get posted up here....

Merman Dan
08-15-2012, 06:43 PM
First, you find a sleeping fairy.... I KID!! I KID!! DON'T CALL TWIG!!! ;)

Mermaid Momo
08-15-2012, 11:28 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTAqSAqZjY4
here's the video i'm using to make my wings for the faerie festival.

Winged Mermaid
08-15-2012, 11:44 PM
Thanks so much for posting that draggersprez! I'd never seen that technique before! I will admit I've had my fair share of smacking people in the face with my wings at events (what fairy hasn't? :P) but at least with these they're more forgiving. Super cool!
I should see if there are any more new tutorials out! Back when I started there were hardly any and I really had to dig (hours and hours on google) to find the ones I listed. I'm hoping that it's like mermaid tails, the more years go by the more tutorials there are and the less "hush hush" things get!

Mermaid Saphira
08-16-2012, 09:22 AM
First, you find a sleeping fairy.... I KID!! I KID!! DON'T CALL TWIG!!! ;)

LOL! Leave poor Twig be ;)

Mermaid Saphira
08-16-2012, 09:30 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTAqSAqZjY4
here's the video i'm using to make my wings for the faerie festival.

ThanQ so much 4 posting this! I have a ton of poster board and have no idea what to do with it! I also can't find any wire strong enough :p I will eventually get around to trying this! :D

Delphine
10-30-2013, 07:33 PM
well hanger wire and delphinous material which they sale in craft stores would work best for a project like that aqua
and us hair scrunggees for the straps or bands which you can find in office depot

For a second, I read that as my name. That was pretty great.


Anything realistic would be best...I like the sound of the cellophane wings though mostly because I am planning to make dragon fly wings : )

I love how here I am, researching for a Faerie character design (also with dragon fly-esque wings) & still manage to find my way back here. Well, I guess this proves how awesome you all are. You're into what I'm into & I love it! <3

Definitely will be looking into what you all found, however I'll also share what I unearthed today:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Cellophane-Fairy-Wings-in-under-2-hrs/

pt1) http://vickybunnyangel.deviantart.com/art/No-Sew-Fairy-Wings-Tutorial-Part-1-of-2-269138019
pt2) http://vickybunnyangel.deviantart.com/art/No-Sew-Fairy-Wings-Tutorial-Part-2-of-2-269138303

http://firepixiefashion.blogspot.com

Delphine
10-30-2013, 07:40 PM
P.S. I'm in love with just about everything on here:

http://www.pinterest.com/laurelwen/faerie-costumes/

SeaSister
10-31-2013, 12:59 AM
For a Halloween costume one year I made dark/gothic/steam-punk fairy wings. I had the good fortune to be working for a company that works with a lot of metal to make those fancy, loopy railings that you see in some houses (examples here: http://www.stonetreestudios.com/ironworks/). My boss was generous enough to let me use some iron rods of varying thickness and the welding equipment to fabricate them. Basically, they look like butterfly wings but just the outline of them (imagine a monarch butterfly, but with the orange parts taken out). They're not meant to look "natural" in the slightest - they're worn by looping a chain/rope/something around and over the shoulders (to secure the top part) which then is tied or fastened to a belt (which secures the bottom part). I really love them, they're super cool and Gothic-looking, but the downside is that, well, they're iron lol. So it's quite easy to give someone a serious bruise if smacked. :P
I'd like to go with them some year for Halloween to a costume party or something... I just want to make sure I take them somewhere that wouldn't be too crowded. Clubs are absolutely packed on Halloween so that wouldn't work. Trick-or-treating would be fine... but I'm a little old for that heh.

drucilla
11-08-2013, 12:02 AM
I wonder what silicone fairy wings would look like, maybe a fairymer?
Mist fairy wings I've had or seen being sold were wire hangers shaped like wings with pretty glittery painted nylon for the fabric.

drucilla
11-08-2013, 12:03 AM
Most**

Mermaid Momo
11-08-2013, 03:07 PM
I wonder what silicone fairy wings would look like, maybe a fairymer?
Mist fairy wings I've had or seen being sold were wire hangers shaped like wings with pretty glittery painted nylon for the fabric.

Silicone probably won't work very well because they'll be too floppy. While you want them I flop around in the wind or something a silicone pair may flop in on themselves (like top over bottom) . And usually people want their wings somewhat translucent or light looking.maybe there are ways around that though.


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MerEmma
11-08-2013, 03:12 PM
Silicone would be very neat to experiment with, though, and have a really cool effect if you *could* pull it off well. I dunno if it'd work though like you said, it's not that sturdy so it'd obviously need some wire/reinforcement to stand up right.

ShyMer
11-08-2013, 03:24 PM
It'd be heavy too.