Wonder Woman Tiara

How does Wonder Woman keep her tiara on in battle?  Most of the replicas on the internet seem to be rigid half crowns or fabric designs.  An Amazon warrior princess needs some flexibility, so my design incorporates a combination of leather and elastic.

  

I used the same two types of leather for this project as I did for the armband.  The black leather shown below is a thick and very smooth piece, good for maintaining its shape, while the tan leather in the second photo is thinner and more flexible.  An integral part of this project is an elastic headband, which is pictured below in a package of two.  This type of headband is thin, soft, stretchy, and has a sticky "grip" side so it doesn't slip in your hair.  (Thanks for the suggestion, bbqueensarah.)

 

 Additional materials used include: acrylic paint (thalo gold and black to match the armband and bracelets), scissors, pencil, pen, permanent marker, and two paintbrushes (fine tip for details and medium tip for wider areas.)  Not pictured: paper

  

 

Leatherworking tools include: Awl, thread, sew on Velcro, Ecoweld (leather cement), needles, and ruler.

 

I also used Leather Sheen (acrylic clear coat), a large flat brush for applying it, and an art knife.

I sketched out my design in the actual size I wanted on graph paper and traced over it in pen once I was satisfied with the shape.  I made a quick photocopy on my printer so I could cut the pieces out without destroying my original (optional.)  As I traced the pattern, I added about an extra inch of length to each end of the tiara.  [The image below shows both the armband design and tiara design together.]

Next, I cut out the leather pieces using my pattern.  The base piece of the tiara and the star were done with the thinner leather and all the other pieces were done with the thicker leather.  I used the knife to help cut the delicate star pieces.

In addition, I cut out two small leather rectangles which will be sewn at the ends of the piece.  They will wrap around the headband to help secure it to the tiara.

The headbands I purchased at the store were too wide to fit behind the tiara, so I cut one in half lengthwise.   Next, I sewed a piece of the coarser Velcro to the non-sticky side of the headband.   I stood in front of the mirror and put on the headband, grip side touching my hair and skin, and positioned it comfortably so so the Velcro piece was centered.  Then I placed the unfinished tiara over top, centering it as well, and marked the back of the leather where the it overlapped with the Velcro.  I used the awl to punch holes in the leather and then used the needle and thread to sew a piece of the soft Velcro to the back of the tiara. 

Next, I glued the bottom stripe to the front of the base using Ecoweld.  Once dry, I punched two small holes in the black leather on each side where the top stripe would overlap (so the stitching will not be visible in the final piece.)  I used a needle and thread to secure the pieces together in the areas shown by the red Xs.

Afterward, I glued the top stripe and middle section.  Once dry, I used the awl to punch six more holes, shown by the green Xs below.  I kept the holes as small, neat, and symmetrical as possible to minimize their appearance on the final piece.  Again, I used needle and thread to stitch the leather 

 together.  I also sewed the ends of the top and bottom stripes to the ends of the tiara.

I then glued the small leather rectangles to the ends of the tiara, as shown below.  After the Ecoweld dried, I punched holes and also sewed the rectangles to the ends of the tiara.  On the back of the rectangles, I sewed a thin strip of soft Velcro at the top and a thin strip of the rough Velcro to the bottom (see second photo down.)  As shown below on the right hand side of the tiara, the rectangle folds up in the back and fastens.  I also glued the star to the front of the tiara (not pictured.)

I tried on the headband and tiara and made tiny marks where the tiara and headband overlapped.  I glued six very small pieces of the rough Velcro to the back of the tiara, three on each side.  These six pieces are not meant to actually fasten to another piece of Velcro.  They come into contact with the soft headband and keep it aligned with the tiara.  The pieces need to be very small so the rough material doesn't touch your skin.

Next, I painted the tiara using different shades of black and gold.  I used thicker coats of paint over the three small stitches to help disguise them, as well as a sharp contrast in tones at the bottom V.  I did not make any effort to hide the stitching at the ends of the tiara, as those will be hidden under my hair.  Once the paint was dry, I finished with an acrylic clear coat.

The final design is meant to attach in two pieces.  First, put on the headband, as shown below, with the "sticky" side down and the Velcro piece in the middle of your forehead.

Next, fix the tiara over top.  The piece of Velcro on the middle of the tiara should align with the Velcro strip on the headband.  The ends of the tiara fold up in the back to attach to the headband.   

Finally, the tiny strips of Velcro on the back of the tiara should align gently with the headband to help keep it from slipping.

The final result is flexible and comfortable.

  

Edit/Update (06/01/17):

I have gone back and applied additional surface protection to the tiara.  The Leather Sheen I used initially made an immediate difference on protecting the paint, but when designing the boots I realized footwear would need more protection.  I e-mailed customer service as the Angelus company and they recommended the two products below- one is a finisher specifically to protect the paint (applies with a brush) and the other is a repellent that causes water to slide right off the leather (spray application.)  I decided to go back and apply them to the rest of my costume as well, including the tiara.  Although I chose matte finish, the products did add a slight amount of shine to the leather.  I still intend to entirely avoid getting the costume wet.