Crowns..................

[lsijohn]

Ok, I know we've had a thread about crowns before........but I couldn't find those. I have 2 crowns to make.....

What are the important points to remember when making a crown????? What is the best way to back a crown?? If the crown is tall, how do you keep the beadwork stiff??? What is the best way to fasten the crown?

I need all the suggestions about construction as possible....please:)

[wyo_rose]

Please back your crown with something breathable. My daughter won a crown that had some kind of a synthetic backing and it was terribly sweaty. And the beads on the edging actually left marks on her forehead, so watch out for that.

I would suggest 100% cotton - preshrunk, or a good buckskin. To check the buckskin, cut off a tiny piece and get it wet. If it stinks, don't use it.

To stiffen, use plastic canvas, or some kind of thick plastic. Milk jug plastic is just too thin. You might end up with a crease in the middle you can't get rid of.

[Blackbear]

I do believe I archived the other threads on crowns.....you might want to search through them...it has alot of information.

[Blackbear]

http://www.powwows.com/gathering/sho...=beaded+crowns

here is a link to one of those threads

[lsijohn]

wyo rose, and blackbear........thank you for your help.

So, what I gathered from your suggestions and reading the 1 archive tread..................

Use something comfortable for the backing
Fasten the crown with elastic
Cover the elastic with another beaded piece
Plastic canvas for giving the crown the stiffness
No edge beading on the bottom of the crown


OK..........

My other questions are:

What is usually the max height of a crown jr. girl/teen size?

How wide is the band that is on the sides of the crown (that fasten in the back)?

[Blackbear]

just my personal opinion but over 6 inches is too much I think...but 5 would look best.

[lsijohn]

What about the part of the crown that wraps around to the back of your head..........the band..............how wide do you think that should be????

[n8tivechick]

from personal experience, if you are going to use elastic, i would use a elastic (like you would use to make pants, you can buy it in various widths in the craft/fabric store) bad make sure it is the same width as the back of the crown.... i say this because it not only looks better but it keeps it in a better place...

and for the backing if it isn;t that tall use fun foam...... Blackbear inspiried that!!!!

-Kelli

[lsijohn]

What is fun foam??????????

[mcuch]

I won a title at our high school and I loved repesenting our school, but I felt like the whole world was laughing at my crown. I was huge!! Miss Indian World didn't even have a crown as tall as mine was. It was clunky and aquward. I made a new one. Even though my crown was only about 6" tall it seemed like Mount Everest. I don't know what the function of your crown will be, Southern style dancing or for Royalty, but it seems that except for Miss Indian World, Crowns look nice when they are 4"-5" tall. A good stiffer that is a tradition on our rez, is wood glue. Used with very think cardboard, like cearal boxes, makes the strongest stiffest beadwork. And another secrect, is to iron it on. I'll explain. If your beadwork has bumps and lumps you can save it. Lay it down with beads facing down, on your thread side smother it with wood glue, and with your kids favorite cearal now on the table in it's bag, take your cardboard and lay it over your piece. It is better if it hangs over. Take a hot iron and iron the cardboard on your piece. I'd like to think that this helps to set the glue, and bond the card board to the bead work. When you are satified that you now have on piece you can trim off the extra cearal box, and notice that your bead work now lays beautifully. If the piece needs shaping, like barrets and crowns, do it now while the piece is still soft. If it needs to be flat, stuff it under all those big heavy idea books you have laying around, and let it dry. You will see that you create a nice edge which to sew your backing material on to, as well as have a very thin and strong piece that can stand up to wear and tear. Don't worry about glue that goes through your beading holes it will dry. Don't use glue where you want your work soft, or beadwork that doesn't need a backing.

Oh, yeah for backing cotton callico fabric is a traditioal backing material. It can be relaced with a fresh piece when the old one gets ugly.

Good luck and hope my advise helps.

[Blackbear]

If you read the backing thread there is a link to what fun foam is...otherwise if you have a walmart..go to the crafts section and you can find it there, stacked like felt.