DIY Pearl and Lace Hair piece - Guest Blog by Tammy

© Ross Herbert Photography

So for those of you that don’t know me, my name is Tammy and I was entrusted with the task of being one of Erin’s bridesmaids.

© Ross Herbert Photography

I have come to learn that one of the hardest thing about living overseas is missing out on those special moments with family and friends as they go about their lives.
So early one morning when I received a text message from Erin informing me that we must Skype ASAP, I had a hunch as to what I was about to be told - I mean, all our friends had been waiting many years for this event to finally happen!

The only problem was, being in another country it was hard to help with all the typical bridesmaid things, so I took to being somewhat of an online helper.

Much to my delight Erin and Chris booked a holiday to Melbourne 7 months before their wedding, and in the same shop where we found Erin the perfect wedding dress, she was also able to try on hair pieces by a local designer.

A short trip around the corner to the designers shop and it was decided, this was definitely the style of hair piece she was after.

However as hand-made one-off designs, every piece we had just looked at was in excess of $200AU.

Upon leaving the store, before I had time actually to think about the words coming out of my mouth, I blurted out “I’ll make you one”!

And that was that, I had just offered up a skill I wasn’t even sure I had, to make something for one of the biggest days in Erin’s life.

We looked online for inspiration and then using extra appliques Erin had requested with her wedding dress, I set about making a customized lace hair piece to compliment Erin’s gown.

www.lindagorringecouture.com.au

As it turns out, all these beautiful hair pieces aren’t particularly difficult if you can simply sew a bead onto fabric - but 8 hours into beading and I completely understood the large price tags on such items.

DIY How to:

Lace Appliques

Thin Silver Wire

Beads

Needle and Thread

Fabric Stiffener

Metal Hair Comb

Super Glue

1. Cut the lace applique to desired size/shape. I ended up cutting one applique into two pieces so I could position it into a nicer shape.

2. Thread beads onto the wire and twist the stem part to make branch like shapes. Then position on the comb so they will just extend out past the edge of the applique once it’s attached. Attach them onto the metal comb by twisting the excess wire around the comb itself.

3. Hand stitch the beads onto the lace applique in desired pattern (you could also use pre-beaded appliques as this is the most time consuming part), I then used super glue to seal the knotted threads on the back of the lace. To ensure that they would not come undone and make the underneath look nice and tidy.

4. Use fabric stiffener on the back of the lace, this helped it to become more rigid

and maintain a better shape.

5. Trim the excess fabric from around the appliques.

6. Hand stitch the appliques directly onto the metal comb

This ended up costing me around $20 in materials, so if you have the time and patience you can create something very special which is also affordable.
Or, like me, you can make one for a friend. Who then has a special something made with lots of love, to wear on their big day!