Valkyrie Wings – Leather with full crow’s wings
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For my wings, I chose to use full birds wings rather than individual feathers, because I prefer the more dramatic look. I settled on crows’ wings and got them from a reputable Etsy seller. They are about 12 inches long and quite heavy for wings, which presented an interesting challenge regarding stability.
The band is leather on the outside and stiffened felt on the inside. Once I’d made the paper pattern, a leatherworking friend of mine cut out the shape, finished the edges and punched the holes for me. I did the scrollwork design, after some practice on a scrap of leather. That was certainly a bit nerve-wracking. There is no erasing or unpicking with leather! Then it all went black with leather dye.
The inside felt band has two combs sewn to it on either side. I do not like things tied around my head, so the combs were an alternative experiment. The idea is to have my hair in a French braid, providing a solid base for the combs to sit in.
I also sewed two felt circles to each wing, zigzagging back and forth, sandwiching the bony part. This then allowed me to sew the felt circles to the inner and outer bands, giving the whole construction more stability. I used binder clips to hold the whole thing together as I sewed it.
I wore these for the first time at Fall Escondido Renaissance Faire 2017, and did not have to adjust them at all. The comb experiment worked perfectly and they stayed solid all day.
Read about making the dress and dyeing the dress.
After adding the scroll-work.
All dyed black.
Assembling the pieces.
Comb arrangement inside.
