A butterfly is the embodiment of beauty, grace and tenderness. It is not surprising that many mothers choose a butterfly costume for their daughters as a festive outfit for a New Year's party, graduation in kindergarten or other special event. Now in many children's stores you can buy a ready-made set, but if you have time and creativity, it is better to make the costume yourself. In addition, you can involve your child in the work, and the process of creating a carnival outfit will become a pleasant joint activity.
Where is it used?
A light, airy butterfly costume is appropriate for a party in a kindergarten or primary school, as well as for skits or fairy-tale productions in a theater studio or club. An essential attribute is bright, beautiful, weightless wings that attract the main attention. In addition to the wings, the outfit must include a headdress (hat, headband) with antennae.
There are many variations of butterfly costumes. They all have one common advantage - the outfit in question is a collection of individual parts, many of which can be used in everyday life. The basis of the costume is a dress or a short top with a fluffy tulle skirt, which will take its place in your everyday wardrobe, and the gymnastics leotard can be used for its intended purpose. The headband without antennae will also come in handy more than once.
How to Make Butterfly Wings with Your Own Hands
The basis of the butterfly costume is the wings. It is not difficult to make them with your own hands. It is enough to prepare a minimum of materials and, having carefully studied the methods of creating the element, get to work. There are several options for making wings: from fabric, paper or on a wire base. Below is a more detailed description of each of them.
Before creating a costume, you need to ask the child what he or she imagines the butterfly wings to be (color, shape, size). You can open several master classes and demonstrate different options. It is the child's desire that should determine the overall appearance of the carnival costume.
Fabric
Light, airy materials such as silk, chiffon or lace are ideal for creating butterfly wings with your own hands. You need to prepare a piece of fabric, elastic, scissors, needles and threads in advance. You can make a template yourself, but a ready-made pattern will greatly simplify the work and save time. Next, you need to follow the step-by-step algorithm of actions:
- The paper sketch is laid out on the fabric, traced and cut out.
- The edges of the fabric are processed manually. If the fabric is synthetic, then the threads sticking out carelessly can be singe with a lighter.
- A ring is made from elastic around the child's arm and sewn on the inside at the tips of the wings. Two larger rings are fixed in the middle, thanks to which the wings will be attached to the child's back (like a knapsack).
By choosing fabrics with bright prints, you can achieve maximum similarity with the coloring of the butterfly's wings. You can choose black material and glue on it appliques cut from another fabric, imitating drawings, patterns, stripes and spots.
Paper
The easiest way to make butterfly wings is from cardboard. The material has a dense structure, due to which the part will hold its shape. To make the element, you need to follow the instructions:
- You need to choose a ready-made template or draw it yourself.
- Transfer the outline in the required size onto a large sheet of cardboard.
- Cut out the pattern for the wings (remember that this is a paired element, arranged in a mirror image).
- Using glue, tape or paper clips, connect the two parts.
Butterfly wings, created with your own hands from cardboard, can be painted with paints, markers, decorated with liquid glitter, decorated with sparkles, ribbons, bows. In order for the wings to be worn comfortably, loops of elastic are attached to the junction of the two elements.
On a wire frame
Making butterfly wings on a wire frame is no more difficult than making fabric or cardboard ones. Every mother can handle this task, even one who has never done needlework before. To create the product, you need to prepare the materials: 1.4 m long wire, nylon tights or stockings, elastic for fastening (0.8 m is enough). Then you need to follow the designated sequence:
- Draw wings on a piece of paper.
- Lay out the wire along the contour.
- Connect each wing together using a twisting method.
- Pull the stockings or tights onto the wire frame you have made.
- Pull the ends of the nylon together and decorate the knot with beads, bows or flowers.
- Using a glue gun, attach two elastic loops to the fold of the wings.
The wire chosen for the wing frame should hold its shape well and bend easily. The best option is aluminum in a polymer shell.
Decor options
By using your imagination and being creative in decorating the wings, you can create an original butterfly costume for a girl with your own hands. The details of the outfit can be decorated in several ways: paint, sew or glue appliques, embroider. Glitter is often used for decoration. To do this, draw patterns on the surface of the wings with a thin brush dipped in PVA glue. Then, while the glue is still wet, sprinkle with glitter.
Those who can confidently hold a needle in their hands will have no trouble embroidering patterns of beads or sequins on fabric butterfly wings. Cardboard items can be painted using watercolors and markers. Butterfly wings made of white nylon are easiest to decorate with spray paint.
How to complete the look
A carnival butterfly costume will not be complete without additional elements. A mask, antennae, appropriate makeup, a gymnastics leotard or bodysuit, a fluffy skirt - these details, together with bright wings, give a clear understanding of who the child is portraying at the party. It is also worth taking care of purchasing bright tights or leggings and appropriate shoes. It is important that the shoes match the outfit in tone. They can be decorated with tiny butterflies cut out of thick colored cardboard.
A headband is an essential attribute of the carnival costume in question. Many mothers are interested in how to make a mustache for a headband with their own hands, so as not to run to the store for this detail. For work, you will need wire, which is twisted to give the desired shape and length, and then fixed to the hoop with tape or glue. The end of the resulting mustache is twisted into spirals. The finished headband is usually decorated with glitter. Alternatively, you can use a small hat as a headdress.
Butterfly face painting will complete the carnival look. Wings are drawn symmetrically on the cheeks and around the eyes of the child, and antennae - on the forehead. Special paints for body painting are used for the work, which are made from natural materials. Before applying makeup to the face, it is necessary to conduct an allergy test. To do this, you need to apply paint to a small area of the skin, for example, to the child's hand, and leave it for a while. The absence of redness or other manifestations of allergy will allow you to be sure of the safety of the substance. It is not recommended to apply makeup to the skin of children under three years old.
A homemade butterfly costume can be complemented with a mask purchased in a store or made by yourself. To create a product at home, you need to print or draw a template of a mask in the shape of a butterfly. Next, transfer the sketch to thick cardboard. In the process, you need to try the mask on the child so that the product does not cause discomfort when worn. The resulting blank can be decorated on the front side with felt or velvet paper, glue beads, glitter and sequins. Finally, you need to attach a thin elastic band to the structure, which will hold the product on the head.
Thanks to the above recommendations, for many mothers the question of how to make a children's butterfly costume quickly, easily, without special financial costs has been resolved. For work, you can use materials that are almost always at hand.
Video
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