So it took me THREE tries & a lot of experimenting to get the wings for my new Needle Felted Sculpture: Like a Fly on the Wall  just right…

 

The Evolution…

 

 

 

I knew I wanted to have the wings be translucent & sparkly! So my first instinct was to try out my trusty clear casting resin with some pearlescent paint mixed in…

 

 

Since I knew that I hadn’t made the wool part of the sculpture strong enough to hold up that amount of weight, I had to think outside the box. I had been working with the Heat N’ Bond for my sugar skull for a while & thought maybe I could do something with that.

 

I tried just Heat N’ Bond sandwiching the wire, but it was WAY to fragile to work, busted through with little effort. So I had to think…

I had some clear thick vinyl laying around, and thought I’d give that a try using the Heat N’ Bond to sandwich the wire between the layers of vinyl.

 

 

ALMOST! I didn’t like the texture of the wing, too bubbly. So I stopped by Michael’s cause I was running low on the Heat N’ Bond… and what did I find… Heat N’ Bond makes a fusible clear vinyl!!!!

I thought I was brilliant for coming up with the idea of fusible vinyl & was brainstorming on all the different ways I could use it… but it was such a good idea that someone else had already thought of it…

 

 

Here’s how I did it!

 

How To Make Sparkly Wings:

 

First, I cut 2 wing-shaped pieces of vinyl for each wing. Then I brushed on some Pearl EX powder to get the golden pink color. You could probably use any sparkly powder (or glitter) but just brush onto ONE OF THE FUSIBLE SIDES, you need the other piece to have a nice fusible surface to get it to stick together.

 

Next I created a wire wing shape out of very thin wire. The thinner the better because it’ll allow the vinyl to really suck in around the wire. I noticed with the thicker wire, there were bubbles & wavy texture where it didn’t completely fuse together.

 

Next, be sure to cover the vinyl with the provided backing so you don’t melt it to your iron. Iron both the front & back to get it to stick really good. Let it sit for a minute to cool off because it’ll be limp & wobbly.

 

JUST RIGHT! I really like how they turned out! The vinyl sucked in around the wire & you can see where it’s pulled itself in & create waves in the areas between the wire.

I think this would be a great technique to make any sort of translucent wing. You could use green for any insect or bright pink for a pretty fairy!