Fabric feathers look realistic when you slice them into feathery pieces.
If you are going for the bohemian or earthy look, feather earrings are a suitable jewelry choice. Craft feathers, however, are not always available, and if you want to make the feather earrings yourself, you may not have craft feathers on hand. As such, substitute craft feathers with fabric to construct fabric feathers. Fabric feathers can be made to look just like real feathers and are appropriate for turning into jewelry.
Instructions
Making the Fabric Feather
1. Draw the outline of the feather onto the fabric with a fabric pen. Fabric pens are designed to not bleed throughout the fabric. Consider how long to make the feathers based on how long you want them to dangle from the earrings. According to Threads magazine, silk and muslin are optimal fabrics for creating fabric feathers, but any type of fabric will do.
2. Cut out the fabric feather with scissors. To make a pair of earrings, you will need two fabric feathers, but they do not have to match exactly. Cut out the second feather.
3. Place a towel on the working surface. Set the two fabric feathers onto the towel. Spray the fabric feathers with fabric stiffener. Wait for the fabric to dry, and then coat it with fabric stiffener for a second time. The key to making realistic fabric feathers is to stiffen the fabric so that it can become frayed and feathery looking.
4. Cut craft or floral wire to fit the length of the feathers, with an additional one-eighth inch showing past the bottom of the feather. You need two pieces of wire, one for each of the feather earrings. Glue the wire to the back center of the fabric feather with fabric glue. Allow to dry for 30 minutes.
5. Trim the feather to have slices in the fabric that resemble real feathers. Snip straight lines into the feather on both sides of the wire at various points. You do not want the sides of the feather to look symmetrical, or else it does not look authentic.
Making the Earrings
6. Cut 1 inch of jewelry wire with a pair of scissors. The jewelry wire is what will wrap around the end of the feather wire to connect the fabric feather to the earring loop.
7. Use needle-nose pliers to make a small loop on one end of the jewelry wire. Grab the end of the wire with the pliers, and turn the end under to form a loop.
8. Wrap the jewelry wire around the craft or floral wire sticking out from the feather. Make five to seven turns around the feather wire with the jewelry wire. Use needle-nose pliers to pinch the two wires together, so a strong connection is made.
9. Reopen the loop at the end of the jewelry wire with the pliers. Slide the earring loop through the wire and close the wire back into a loop with the needle-nose pliers. You now have a loop within a loop, connecting the fabric feather to the earring loop.
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