How to make your own fascinator

Fascinators are one of the most popular fashion accessories for summer events such as weddings, horse racing, summer balls and other formal occasions. They are easy to wear, lightweight and look great with a wide variety of outfits. And unlike hats, fascinators are incredibly simple to make, even for those new to millinery.

In this guide we’ll take a look at how to make a DIY fascinator that will make your friends jealous and help you stand out from the crowd.

Fascinator kits
One of the simplest ways to get everything you need is to buy a fascinator kit which will contain all the materials that you’ll need with the exception of sundries such as glue and thread. These kits are incredibly versatile and will let you create a fantastic and modern fascinator with no need for any special equipment. As well as including all the materials you’ll need the fascinator kits come with detailed instructions that will guide you through the entire process from start to finish.

In the below video we show you how to create a fascinator using our Lily Kit:



Making your own fascinator
For those that would like a little bit more creative freedom and who don’t want to be limited by the contents of a fascinator kit then your best option is to buy the materials that you’ll need. Some of the things that you may want to include are:

Sinamay fascinator base
Hair slide or Alice band
50cm – 1m of ribbon of your choice
A selection of flowers
A selection of feathers
Coloured Sinamay fabric
Crin
Veiling

Not all the items above are essential and it all depends on the design of your fascinator and how you want it to look. It’s best to take a look at images of fascinators to take inspiration and get ideas for what you’d like to create. If you’ve already purchased an outfit you’ll want to choose colours and accessories to match your dress. Now that you’ve got the materials you’ll need it’s time to get crafting and create your own fascinator.

Step 1
The first thing you’ll need to do is to sew your hair slide onto the underside of your fascinator base. Start by placing the base on your head to work out where you want it to sit before sewing the slide in position. If you are using an Alice band then it is best to sew this onto the base at the end as it can hinder decorating the top of the fascinator with this in place.

Step 2
If you are using ribbons, crin or fabric to create loops on your fascinator then now is the time to add these to the base. You’ll want to fold the ribbon, crin or fabric to create loops and sew this together with each fold. You can then either have the folds in the same direction or flair them by twisting the folds to have your loops falling in different directions. Once you’re happy with the loops these can then be secured to your base either by pinning in place or sewing.

Step 3
For those using flowers then now is the time to add these to your base. Whether you choose to sew your flower onto your loops or have them separate is up to you and depends on how you would like your fascinator to look.

Step 4
When making your own fascinator and using long feathers to add height you’ll want to add these after everything else is in place. For those that want feathers to cover the base of their fascinator then these should be added before other items. Feathers can be grouped together and either glued in place or sewn onto the base to create the look you want.

As you’ll see fascinators are incredibly easy to create and can be constructed in a range of different ways. The steps above are just rough ideas and will help you create a fascinator that is similar to the one created in the video below: