DIY GELE FASCINATOR

Nicole is easily one of my favorite clients. She always knows what she wants/doesn’t want but also gives room for new ideas as long as it’s executed to still reflect her personality. We always have the most interesting consultations.

So Nicole had this high society wedding to attend and of course received her *asoebi which consisted 6 yards of Ankara fabric and a strip of *gele. Of course she wanted something different that’s why she came to me (duh!)

After consultation, we settled on a dress and then decided to remake the gele into a fascinator.

Here’s how I went about it

Materials

Gele fabric

Satin fabric

Thick interface - I used thick paper stay/peplum stay

Fabric marker

Scissors

Measuring tape

Elastic band

Hair band

Lace trimmings

Pearls

Fabric glue

Sewing machine

Thread

Steps

Step 1

Mark a circle with a radius of 8 inches on the plain side of the interface.

Step 2

Cut out the circle.

Step 3

Place the cut out circle on a plain sheet of interface and cut out another circle.

Step 4

Mark a 1-2inches slit on the interface as seen below and cut out.

Step 5

Place one of the circular interface pieces on the gele fabric and iron until the adhesive seals. Make sure that the adhesive side of the interface is placed facing the wrong side of the gele fabric and then iron on the plain side of the interface.

Then cut out the fusion leaving about 1 inch allowance as seen below.

Step 6

Place the second circular interface piece on the satin fabric and iron until the adhesive seals. Make sure that the adhesive side of the interface is placed facing the wrong side of the satin fabric and the iron on the plain side of the interface.

Then cut out the fusion leaving about 1 inch allowance as seen below

Step 7

Sew the slits on each of the fabrics shut.

Step 8

Attach 2 strips of elastic band to the center of the satin fabric like I have done below. The length of each elastic strip should be equal to the measurement of the wideners of the hair band plus about 1 and half inches.

Step 9

Place the two fabrics on top of each other with the right sides facing each other and pin in place. Then sew round as I have done leaving an open end.

Step 10

Trim off the excess fabric at the borders and cut little slits around the hem circumference.

Step 11

Place your hands through the open end and turn out the inside the facinator. Iron flat especially around the edges.

Step 12

Design the facinator by gluing appliqués on it. Here I used two different lace trimmings and pearls.

Final look!

NOTE

The radius used in step 1 is dependent on how wide you want the brim of the fascinator to be.

The measurement slit in step 4 will determine how curved the fascinator will look.

Please watch the video below for more details.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M04hXrTdqOk

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Roll the credits xx

*asoebi - Nigerian outfits made from matching fabric to be worn by a group of people to a party, wedding, or funeral as a uniform.

*gele - A traditional Nigerian headwrap worn during special occasions as an accessory to the traditional attire.