Simplified Costume Wings
By Kiki Clark

Angels, fairies, demons, dragons, bats, birds, bugs... There are a lot of wing-oriented costumes, but if you've ever tried to whip up a set of flower-fairy wings using spring-steel wire and a pair of nylons, you know the only people who can make them look good are highly trained Third-World laborers. Even if you manage to bend your wire smoothly and make each side look about the same, you've still got to paint them.

Forget all that. I'm going to show you how to make easy wings with the following:

Very basic sewing skills

Fabric of your choice, needle, matching thread

Newspaper, marker and scissors (for paper pattern)

Straight pins

A wire coat hanger (just for support, not shape)

Wire cutter and pliers

Cardboard, scissors

Two hook-and-eye sets

The first thing to know is not to make the wings too large. You're not the archangel Gabriel, for crying out loud. We lesser mortals need to be able to get through doorways, sit, and avoid knocking bowls of bean dip onto the floor. Your wings should be party friendly, so limit them to shoulder width or two inches beyond on each side, and don't make them extend below your waist or over your head. They're going to be so beautiful, no one will care if they're not big enough to get you airborne. In fact, little wings have a cuteness factor that adds charm to a lot of costumes.

 

Step 1: The Paper Pattern

Take a piece of newspaper and draw one half of your wing set, using the fold in the paper as your line where the wings will join. If it's a double-wing style, as in butterfly/dragonfly wings, draw the top and bottom wings with an attachment near the fold. The more you can attach them and still have it look good, the better they'll hang. You might want to sketch the shape in pencil first, modifying it as you go along, then draw over the best lines with a marker.

 


Fold your newspaper in half with the marked design outside and cut the shape through the two layers of paper. Unfold, and there are your wings!

Step 2: The Fabric

Measure the height and width of your extended wing pattern, then double those numbers. Take your measurements to the fabric store and get a piece of fabric that is big enough. Avoid gauzy, limp fabrics. Cotton works best. If you're making bug wings, such as dragonfly wings, look for shiny, translucent fabric that feels crackly and stiff. If you're making wings for a dragon, consider red or green lamé. For angel, demon or bat wings, polished cotton is a good choice. If you fall in love with a gauzy fabric and must have it, then buy half the fabric in that and half in something stiffer in a neutral/complimentary color, to use as the back side. You could also use interfacing, if you're good at that sort of thing.

When you see the pictures below, you'll notice that while the fabric I bought is beautiful, the batik pattern makes the wings look wrinkled when they're not. (Or maybe my butterfly is just out of its chrysalis and not dry yet.) I recommend that you avoid fabrics that look dimensional in any way.

While you're at the store, get matching thread, a needle if you don't have one, and a packet of hooks and eyes in either white or black, whichever goes better.

(Bonus Idea for expert sewers): If you're an experienced sewer, especially a quilter, consider making patchwork butterfly wings. Draw the exterior wing shape, then draw some lobes within the wings. Cut the lobes out of different fabrics, preferably something opaque, so the seams don't show. Patch them together like a crazy quilt and your wings will be spectacular.)

Step 3: Cutting and Pinning

Fold your piece of fabric in half. Lay your unfolded wing pattern on top and pin it to the fabric, going through both layers of fabric.

Cut around the edge of your paper pattern, going through both layers of fabric. Unpin everything, take off the paper, and pin the two pieces of fabric together again, right sides facing out. You won't be putting this sucker through the wash, so why worry about turning it inside out? Plus, not having extra fabric inside ensures that the wing's edge is very flat, which I think looks more realistic. If you want to do it the other way, go for it.

Step 4: The Wire

For any fabric that isn't too translucent, the wire won't show. If you have a sheer fabric, then make sure your coat hanger is the appropriate color. If you're hard-core, you could spray-paint the wire (after it's cut and bent) to match the fabric, but for most of us, regular hanger colors will suffice.

If your wings are quite small (such as for a toddler's costume), you can cut an entire side off the hanger, including the hanging hook, even up the length of the two remaining sides, and use the already existing bend. But for most designs, it's best to cut off only the hanging hook and straighten the remaining bends with pliers.

Mark the center point of your wire, whether it's with a piece of tape, a pencil or marker. Now comes the eyeballing. A picture is worth a thousand words, so take a look below.

Basically, you want the wire to hold up the top edge of the wings. The bend in the wire doesn't have to go all the way to the bottom, because you're going to tack the wire to the fabric with a few stitches.

Once you have the wire bent appropriately, mark how much room at the bottom of your fabric you'll need to leave unsewn to get the wire (and your hand) inside. You'll be able to bend the two arms together a bit without deforming the shape, so it doesn't have to be a very wide space.

Step 5: Sewing

Starting at one of your marks (see the last part of Step 4), sew around the wing shape until you reach the other mark. Make your seam a quarter inch (4 mm) inside the cut edge of the fabric.

Step 6: Stuffing, Tacking, Finishing

Stuff the wire into the wings through the gap at the bottom, and adjust the wire's arms so they are up against most of the top seam and the bend is at the midline of the wing shape. Using a needle and thread, stitch through both layers of fabric and over the wire, to hold it in place. At this point in my project, I also decided that the bottom sections of my wings needed some cardboard.

After folding, stuffing, and unfolding the cardboard into the wing, I tacked across the bottom V of the wire, as well.

Stitches to hold wire in place

I don't bother to sew the gap closed after the wire is in. You never know if you'll need to get your fingers in there to adjust it again.

Here's where it helps to have a buddy, if this is your costume. Put on the clothing part of your costume. Have your buddy hold the wings where they should be. Have your buddy mark where the wings can be attached to your costume with hooks and eyes. If your costume top has a full back and your wings are relatively small, then you can put the attachments pretty close to the centerline. This allows you to bend the wire inside the wings so they fold a little bit away from your body, which looks cool. If you're wearing a spaghetti-strap top, you'll need to attach the wings to the straps. If they're large wings, you'll need more space between the two attachments to keep them straight. In either of the latter two cases, the wings will lie more flat to your body. You can test everything out with safety pins first to see how your wings hang.

Attach the hooks by sewing through both layers of fabric. Position them so they are just below the internal wire, pushing it up against the top seam. Sew the eyes to the costume.

Hook placement

Hook 'em on, and you're ready to fly to your party!

Extra decorating ideas:

The above wings were part of my costume for a Halloween party I once threw. The theme was "Seven Deadly Sins," and I was Vanity (the wings attached to a fabulous black dress). You can see that I cut out feather shapes and hot-glued them to the fabric after it was all done. This looks great on angel/bird wings. When working with white fabric, make sure your hands are clean. There's nothing worse than grubby feathers.

If you're making butterfly/fairy wings, you can outline interior lobes on the wings with glitter glue. You could also use silver glitter glue to make feather shapes on white angel wings. I highly recommend finding a photo of bug or bird wings on the Internet before you tackle this. We all have a vague idea of how lobe and feather patterns look. This vague idea is wrong.
 

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Halloween Treats for Everyone!
By Priscilla Kissinger

The dog days of summer have lumbered off into hibernation. The leaves are strutting their stuff, wowing us with their vibrant fall wardrobes. School is finally under way, and we all know what that means.

Homework, after-school activities, hectic schedules, classroom parties!

Just what the teachers are looking forward to - an opportunity to ply their students with sugar, then send them home to mom and dad!

Seriously, my girls and I, especially my youngest daughter, like to bake. Of course, we also like to eat, which doesn't bode well for the waistline. But we enjoy ourselves, and baking gives us some much-needed family time. And it's fun sharing our goodies with friends.

A Halloween party is the perfect time to dig out one or two of our favorite recipes, roll up our sleeves, wash our hands, and get down to some fun!

I thought I'd share two recipes with you. One is fairly easy, the other a bit more labor intensive. But both of them are yummy! Give 'em a try, and let the Posse know how it goes!

By the way, we like to think that as long as we're having fun together, the calories don't count. Enjoy!

Easy:

Chocolate S'mores

Yield: 2 dozen
Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
10 graham crackers, divided
6 tbsp butter or margarine, divided
1 (13-ounce) package chocolate rice cereal
1 package (8 squares) semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 (10-ounce) package miniature marshmallows
12 large marshmallows, halved

Line a 13X9-inch pan with foil; grease bottom and sides. Place grahams on bottom in single layer, cutting them to fill pan completely. Coarsely crush remaining grahams, set aside.

Microwave chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter in a microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 2 minutes; stir until chocolate is melted. Spread 1/2 of the mixture in a thin layer over the grahams.

Microwave remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a 4-quart microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 45 seconds or until melted. Add miniature marshmallows; toss to coat. Microwave 1 1/2 minutes until marshmallows are melted completely, stirring after 45 seconds. Add cereal; mix well.

Press cereal mixture gently over chocolate-covered grahams to form an even layer. Top with marshmallow halves, cut side down. Drizzle with remaining chocolate and crushed grahams. Cool, cut into squares.


Intermediate:

Eyeball Cookies

Yield: 12
Prep time: 50 minutes
Chill: 15 minutes
Bake: about 12 minutes

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
12 miniature peanut butter cups
1 (.75-ounce) tube blue gel frosting with writing tip (optional)
1/2 of an 18-ounce roll refrigerated sugar-cookie dough
Red liquid food color

Knead flour into dough until well blended. Remove 1/4 teaspoon dough, roll into 12 tiny balls (for pupils); roll remaining dough into an even, 12-inch log. Cut into 12 1-inch pieces.

Place pieces cut side up onto baking sheet. Press your thumb in the center of each cookie to make an indentation large enough to hold a peanut butter cup. Insert cup.

Roll dough between the palms of your hands so the dough rises up and around the sides of the peanut butter cup. Place a pupil in the center of each peanut butter cup, on top of the chocolate. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Put a few drops of red food color into a small cup. Dip the end of a toothpick into food color; draw veins from the center to the bottom edge of each cookie. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm dough.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake cookies for 12 minutes or until they are pale golden around the edges. Remove them to a wire rack to cool. If desired, pipe blue gel around pupils of some of the cookies.

To read last month's Stuff to Make article, click here

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