My Crafty Christmas [8]

The other day I was looking at the dress I made for my niece, and I decided it needed a little something extra. Something to accessorize with. A while back, my mom bought Dulcie some hair clips. You know the kind--it has like 12 to a card and cost around a dollar. My daughter, blessed as she is with a full luxe head of hair, hates to have anything in it. Even with light-to-no usage, some of the clips already had paint chipping off of them. And even though Dulcie doesn't like decoration in her hair, my niece does. So I thought I would pretty some up for her and make them match her dress (and this is something you can do, too!).

My Supplies:
1 (or a pair of) bendy type clip
fabric scraps
paper
felt or batting (optional)
something to turn with
thread, needle, scissors (etc)
other decorative elements (ribbon, buttons, etc) optional

I took the clip and traced the general shape of the clip right-side down on the paper. After I had the general shape, I added a quarter inch seam allowance to my drawing. You'll want to make 3 copies of this shape.
You can kind of see this in the above image, but make a mark on two of the drawings where the bottom part of the clip meets with the body of the clip. One of the drawings with the line will be the underside of the clip cover, and the other will be to cover the rounded end underside. Before you cut, make sure you remember to add a quarter seam allowance (toward the rounded end for the body underside, and toward the point of the clip for the rounded end...if that makes sense.). Now cut out your pieces: 1 - whole body (label 1), 1 - 2/3rd body (cut off the rounded end including seam allowance and label as 2), and 1 - 1/3rd body (rounded end only including seam allowance and label 3)

Cut out 1 (or 2 in the case of making a pair) of all pieces. Press seam allowance of piece 2 and 3 toward the wrong side of the fabric. Top stitch down.
Sew(machine or hand) piece 1 to piece 2 right sides together. Trim carefully and notch fabric seam allowance being careful not to cut too close to your stitches to reduce bulk. Sew piece 3 to piece 1 right sides together. I found that it's easier not to stitch all the way to the end of the fabric on one end. Like go around from one side, but stop a little shy of the end, maybe about a quarter inch. Back stitch and notch fabric where needed. You may not what to trim the seam on the sides since you will need some of it to close up the unfinished end later. Carefully turn body and rounded end with tool of your choice. I used a narrow rounded-point chopstick--pretty much my go-to turning tool.

If you are adorning your clip with added elements, now is the time to do it. Also, if you are using batting or felt (I used felt just to give the fabric a little bit more body), cut a piece in the shape of the whole body with no seam allowance. Tack it to the top of your clip at a few key places at top, middle, and bottom. I used thread, but I imagine you could try hot glue. I haven't tried it, so I don't know how successful it would be. Trim edges to shape if necessary.

Insert opened clip into the new sleeve you've created. Inserting the rounded end can be a little tricky, which is why I didn't sew all the way to the end of the 3rd piece. If your clip has batting/felt attached, you may find it useful to use your turning tool (or something else) to help guide the clip body into the sleeve since the felt/batting may bunch during insertion. Once you have the end in, fold under the seam allowance of the unfinshed seam and hand stitch closed with your preferred stitch. I used whipstitch.Voila! And you have a new covered clip that matches whatever you wanted it to ;D