Yes, I’ve only posted about my dragon wings about 10 times, and here it goes again. Only this time I’m sharing how I made them.

OK, here is goes, my first ever tutorial…
Materials:

Fleece
2 metal hangers
Fusible Adhesive, like Steam to Seam or Heat’n Bond Ultra
Eleastic, 18inches
Thread
Scissors
Wire Cutters
Your Dragon is Waiting…. What are you waiting for!
Step 1- Print pattern, or use your own. Print Pattern here

Step 2- Lay the pattern on the fusible adhesive. (I used the Heat’n Bond Ultra roll.) Fold the fusible adhesive so that the non-paper sides are together. Trace pattern and Cut. I added a ¼” width around the pattern piece, but you don’t need to.

Step 3- Lay the fusible adhesive on the wrong side of the fleece and iron on. I never iron fleece directly. I always use a thin piece of cotton between the iron and the fleece.
Cut the fleece around the fusible adhesive wing pattern.

Step 4- Time for the wire cutting! Get out your hangers and wire cutters.
Hanger #1- Clip off the hanger piece. Then bend the hanger at the middle of the straight bottom piece, so that you have an upside W. Next, lay the hanger on the dragon wings and bend the hanger so that it somewhat aligns with the top edge of the wings. This doesn’t have to be exact by any means!
Hanger #2- Clip the bottom into 2 piece and the sides into 2 more pieces for the ‘bones’ of the wings.

Step 6- Next step, putting the wings and bones together.
Remove the paper side of the adhesive and lay out this set of wings with adhesive up. Layout the ‘bones’. Lay the second piece of fleece over the bones with right side up. Iron. This ironing step takes a little while to get the fusible adhesive to adhere to the fleece, so be patient. Last part of Step 6, cut out the dragon wings!

Step 7- Stitch! First, stitch around the edges. Second, stitch alongside each of the inside bones

Step 8- Elastic. Almost done… Add two 9inch pieces of elastic to the back side of the wings, spaced about 5inches apart. Although these lengths for the elastic were made for 2 year olds, they even fit some adults. Lastly, Stitch the elastic to the top and bottom of the wings.

And WA LA! You’re done! Get those wings flying!

Please excuse the photography! The lighting in my crafty room is not set up for photography… That’s a whole ‘nother project…. I considered making another set and taking better pictures along the way, but with Halloween just around the corner I decided to post what I have.
Comments and questions are greatly appreciated! Like I said this is my first ever tutorial, so I know there is room for improvement for my next one. I’d also love to see pictures of other little dragons.
And if you’d like to own a pair, but want someone else to make them… Check out my etsy site!



























Great idea about using hangers !! Next time I have to make a pair of wings I shall resort to hangers.!! Thanks !
OMG! I am so excited to try these. So adorable! Thanks!
Glad you like them! Have fun with them.
I love these….perfect timing too because my son is 2 and he loves dragons and surprise….he is being one for halloween…but he is in that in-between size stage so costumes dont fit all that well…so maybe I will be making him one this year?!? Love it!
Obviously, my 2 year old loves dragons as well! Would love to see the costume when you get it done.
Hi, found this via Prudent baby! Thans for a great tutorial, i can’t wait to try it out for my boys!!
I was so excited to be on Prudent Baby! Thanks for letting me know.
these are awesome! thanks for the inspiration. i am going to tweak this to make buzz lightyear wings for my son’s halloween costume, and will definetly make them some dragon wings later on. i love finding tutorials like this for fun boy stuff! you are wonderful!
Boy things are hard to find! The wings can really be anything. Would love to see pics of Buzz!
This is brilliant. So simple!
ahhh! Thanks!
These are AWESOME!! I linked to your tutorial over at Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-diy-bat-wings-for-a-halloween-costume/2010/10/23/
–Anne
Awesome! Thank you!
Thanks for the awesomeness! I’m totally having my son a dragon party for his next birthday.
Thanks! Dragon parties are super fun!
these are AWESOME. all i hear about all day is what dragons my kids are (thank-you “how to train your dragon”). they would love these so much. i see a Christmas present….
Thank you! Would love to see pics of the Christmas presents!
Oh my goodness…this is pure genius. You rock! I love this. I am bookmarking this post right now!
I found you through Craft Gossip BTW.
Pure genius?? Cool! Thanks! I love your blog as well. I want to make the spider web pretzels right now!
these are fantastic! Do you mind if I add a link in my blog?
Louise
Thanks! No problem.
That you so much for posting this tutorial! I was already making my son’s baby dragon costume when I saw a link to your post on another site. I decided to make them right away and they are adorable. Once I have pictures of the finished costume I’ll have to show you how cute they look on a baby. The directions were super easy to follow. Thank you, thank you!
Awesome! Glad to hear that the directions were easy to follow. Seeing as how it’s my first tutorial, I was nervous about that. I can’t wait to see pictures!
Very clever use of the hangers! They turned out great! Thanks for the tutorial!
Thank you! It was one of those Ah-ha moments!!
I love these! We’re having a dragon themed birthday party for my son’s 4th birthday this year and these will be perfect! Thank you so much for posting this!
awesome! I’m really wanting to set up a flickr page for reader projects. I’d love to see the ones you do!
OMG these are fantasitc!! I’m going to use this tutorial to make some dragon wing for my niece and her dog
– she’s dragon crazy and would love this!!!
How funny! I totally want to see them on the dog! gotta get that flickr page set up!!
Thank you for this! I’d despaired of finding a way to make dragon wings cheaply with my limited sewing skills, but now I have some bat like dragon wings for my costume, and it took only a few hours. I used a material with a lizardskin texture, and hand stiched them for ragged edges, they’re perfect!
I’d love to see them!!! I’d love to have you add them to the flickr page!
hi – love your dragon wings. my 3 year old wants to be toothless the dragon for halloween but my sewing machine just broke and i can’t get a new one until christmas. is there any way you would consider a custom order for a set of wings i could pay you for?! please send word and pricing if you are willing ASAP — nataliehacking@hotmail.com
cheers,
natalie*
Awesome! So glad you like them. And sorry to hear about your sewing machine. I sent an email to you about the custom wings. Timing isn’t right for me to make you any (usually I would say yes), but I do have 2 sets just sitting here. Check your email!
Starting on these today! wish me luck !:)
Best tutorial I have found and I have looked at A TON!
Good luck!! I’d love to see how they turn out!!
Hi, Thanks for the great tutorial. Just made a pair of wings for my boys and posted pictures on my blog. Linked to your blog for the instructions
http://makejanemake.blogspot.com/2011/10/diy-halloween-dragon-wings.html
Awesome!!! Thanks so much for sharing the link!
These are perfect! I will need to adapt them to my daughter’s glitter/tulle “friendly cute” dragon costume. Hoping I can make it work with costume fabric or tulle since it’s on hand!
I can’t wait to see them!!
I made you amazing wings for my sons Dragon costume for halloween I posted them on my blog site, if you are interested.
Awesome!! They look great! I’m so glad that you shared them with me. Thanks!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. My son will be the coolest dragon around this halloween
Great! Glad I could help! would love to see pictures!!
This tutorial is fabulous! Thank you so much! I’m wondering if they need to be made from a heavy fabric like fleece or would a lighter fabric work too? I wasn’t sure if the wings would be sturdy enough.
Thank you! I would think a lighter fabric would work, but the hangers might show more… But that might be fine depending on the fabric! With the hangers cut and bent they are pretty sturdy. If you make them, please send pictures!!
I used this tutorial to make a dog costume for an 8wk old puppy. They attach to her harness. Very easy and very cute! (and cheaper and less bothersome to her than a store bought one).
Thanks for this great tutorial! I made a set from red & black felt for my 6 year old’s dragon Halloween costume this year and he loves them. I modified the pattern a little for a wider spread for a larger child…. the whole costume is a hit!
I can’t wait to see them!!!
Your super tutorial inspired my 6-year-old son’s dragon costume. Such a smart idea, the wings were even worn by his little 2-year-old brother who in the beginning wouldn’t want to dress up at all
the result here http://pinterest.com/pin/20266267043108458/ Thank you so much! Iraisa
awesome! great job! I added the link to the tutorial to your pin! Thanks for sharing!!
Hi there. Love the wings. Any chance you’d be able to make a few pairs to sell to fit 6 year olds?
I can! I’ll email you directly!
Awesome. Thanks for posting this. I can’t wait to make some for my kids!
I hope you do! WOuld love to see them if you make them. My son still wears his, almost 2 years later!
Oh goodness! Would ou consider selling a pair? I need black ones ASAP!
I can! I emailed ya…
Thanks for the how to steps… I’m going to try making a version of this for my husband. My 3 year old is going to be Mike The Knight, and be has decided Daddy needs to be a dragon
Sounds adorable! My son told his Dad that he was going to be a pumpkin while he and I are going to be pirates. Dad wasn’t so happy about that idea!
Would love to see pictures!
A tip– you can water down craft paint about half paint and half water to paint your elastic to match your wings, no bulk or time sewing casings!
Ahhh! Good idea. Thanks!
OH, and I used dots of E6000 at key points of the wires to help them stay in place before I ironed on the second layer. Keeps everything still for sewing AND ironing in place. I’ll try to send photos of munchkin AND Grandpa in their matching dragonwings.
Yes, please do send pictures! I’d love to see!!
I made wings following your instructions for my 6 month old’s dragon costume. I will be wearing him in a Mei Tai carrier, and tie the wings around the carrier. The photo on my facebook page is getting a lot of attention, so I hope you don’t mind if I share your post.
)
Awesome! I’m glad th tutoria worked for you! Please do share!! I do make and sell them on etsy, too. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this! My son wants to be a Dragon for his little sister’s fairy party, and according to the shops, there’s no deman for dragon wings (although the reponses to your turorial suggest otherwise!)!
One question: Did you use a particular needle in the machine to sew it together? The packaging for the heatnbond says it shouldn’t be sewn, but I know that doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t be! Just don’t want to stuff my mum’s sewin machine up!
Thanks so much!
Awesome question! I actually changed the product I used. I’m so glad you asked, because I need to update the tutorial! I now use a Pellon fusible interfacing, rather than the heat n bond product. I iron the interfacing on one side of the fleece wings (with a cloth between the interfacing (and Fleece) and the iron. It doesn’t necessarily hold the two pieces of fleece together, but it does hold the metal bits in place and gives the wings a little more stiffness. You can sew the het n bond, but sometimes it would leave a sticky residue on the needle, then that sticky would break the thread… I’ve had much better results with the pellon product. It’s a mid weight craft interfacing. It used to not be a ‘craft’ product, but last time I bought it the label had been changed to craft (but its’ still with the interfacing on the bolt in the fabric dept.) Ok, I hope this helps!
Thank you so much for this tutorial!Now I think I can finally put together my dragon coat.But the adhesive is very expensive here,even at craft stores!Do you think I can substitute that with superglue?Or is that a bad idea?By the way,what kind of fabric could give the ‘scaly’ texture?Will faux leather work?
Hmmm… I wouldn’t try to sew through super glue… I think a faux leather would work. There are also some scaley looking vinyl’s… You could pin the pieces together and not use the interfacing…