Luna Lovegood Lion Headdress

I was recently contacted by one of my oldest and dearest friends, Marilyn, to make a lion headdress for her daughter Luna.  Marilyn and her hubby wanted to dress Miss Luna as Luna Lovegood, from Harry Potter. Specifically, they wanted a lion headdress that Luna Lovegood can first be seen wearing in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie.

I love this family so much that I immediately said yes.  One problem…I’ve never seen a Harry Potter movie.  I’ve never read a book.  I didn’t have the slightest idea who Luna Lovegood was.

After doing a little research and seeing how beautiful, intricate and presumably heavy the original headdress was I saw another problem…baby Luna will be just shy of 1-year-old when she wears the lion topper for Halloween. So not only do I have to create something that’s detailed and easily identifiable, but it also has to be light enough for Baby Luna’s darling little neck to hold up.

Design:

First, I picked materials.  I wanted to use lightweight materials that even if layered, wouldn’t be too heavy.  I decided that the lions face would be done in felt and his mane would be tulle and ribbon. To ensure that the lion’s face will stand up, I also decided to use ultra-firm interfacing between the front and back of the headdress as well as affix a triangle stand to the back to give it further stability.

Next, I sketched out the lion’s face using several pictures from the film. Once I had a symmetrical rendering, I broke out my husband’s light box (there are several perks to being married to an animator). I used the lightbox to trace elements of the lion’s face onto card stock.  I cut out the pieces and used them as a pattern. 

Construction:

Face: The pattern pieces were then traced onto the felt and I cut them out and hand stiched them into place. 

Mane: Next I cut several different colors and widths of ribbon as well as tulle.  I arranged them on a piece of felt shaped like the lion’s face and then machine sewed them into place.

Stand: I created a triangle stand out of firm interface and attached it to a piece of firm interface that was cut out in the shape of the lion’s face.  I layered the pieces as follows: back of lion’s head with a slit cut into it so the triangle stand could poke through, triangle stand attached to face shaped interface, mane, lion face.  Then I sewed all layers together using the machine. Finishing: Finally, I attached ribbons to the bottom of the stand and wrapped the stand in matching felt.

This commission was a real challenge.  But I love challenges! I like using both sides of my brain to find solutions…bomb ass, cute ass, fly ass solutions.

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