I've been looking at alot of Burlesque Performances lately on Youtube...

I searched the internet far and wide looking for a reasonably priced fan that I could potentially practice with. To no avail, everything I found was between $200-$1000 big boys to buy a pre-made or even fan making kit! Being the resourceful young lady I am -- I decided to make my own. Follow this to the "T" or change it up a bit, but these feather fans are perfect! They turned out super luxurious looking!

You'll Need:

• 25-30 large real or fake ostrich feather plumes, all roughly the same size


• Felt, velvet, valour, contact paper or any other material you deem fit.


• Posterboard


• Hot glue


• Ribbon


• Old brooch, beads or costume jewelry

How To Make Your Very Own Burlesque Fan:



1. Pick out your feathers with co-ordinating colors. You can get them at a variety of places from craft stores to online wholesalers. I bought mine online and it seemed to be the best deal. (30 plumes for $87). Try to stick to the ostrich style feathers as you want that wonderful movement they make as you wave them.


2. 
   
   Take your posterboard and choose a style for a fan base. It can be a semi-circle, or if you'd like to get more complicated, you can do a scalloping design. Cut out two identical shapes and make sure they match up nicely. Then with the hot glue, wrap each piece in your felt, contact paper or velvet and neatly secure it on the inside of the posterboard pieces.


3. Take one piece of the posterboard and lay it out on a flat surface, with the inside part facing you. Arrange your feathers across the base of the fan and make sure they are evenly distributed. Hold your thumb just above the bottom of the quills and secure them with a little drop of hot glue, just to tack them into place. Let harden completely (5-10min). Then make any adjustments you need to make sure the feathers overlap properly.


4. Secure the fan handle pieces together with more hot glue. Make a few swirling patterns of hot glue on the quills of the feathers and glue the two pieces of posterboard together. Weight it down and let dry completely for 15 minutes. You will now have a fan, a rough one, but a functional fan. And now the fun begins! It's time to decorate!


5. Give your fan some personality! Add embellishments to the front of your fan. Glue some dangling beads or ribbon to the front of your fan, then glue the giant brooch or other decorative element to the front to tie everything together. Once you have finished decorating the fan, let the glue dry and make sure everything is secure enough to not fall off while you're using it. Add additional glue where needed, and your fan is completed!

Now that I have my wonderful homemade fan -- I need a costume to match it with. I'm thinking I'm going to take my RAGO Wide Band Thong from American Shapewear and embellish it with some fringe and sequin rope -- cute, no?

I'm going to try it and  blog about it next week so keep your eyes peeled!