How to make it

Fiber Optic Wings

Advanced24 steps

Leatherwork, pattern making, laser cutter or hand cutting

Joel asked me to make a costume piece for the launch of the RGB Critter flashlight, and we settled on wings. I love the drama of wings, but the structural kind get crushed in cabs, snag in crowds and need their own suitcase.

So I let the fibers make the wing shape and kept the base minimal: easy to pack, easy to move in, with all the impact of a big set of wings. Photos by Lisa Donchak, modeled by Mara Harris.

Guide by Natalie Walsh, fashion designer and former Instructables designer, shared with her permission. See the original on Instructables, comments and pattern files included.

What you need

Fiber Optic Costume KitI used the 360-strand bundle and the RGB Critter light.
Get the kit
LeatherAbout 7 oz (3mm). I wouldn't go thinner for the wings; trims and back pieces can be lighter. Veg tan is stiffer if you're happy to dye it. A 72" x 3/4" premade strap finishes more cleanly than cut strap.
HardwareMedium double cap rivets sized for two layers of your leather, snaps, three 3/4" buckles.
FindingsStretchy clear cord for tying down fibers, heavy duty leather thread, super glue, 1/2" x 1/2" EVA foam tape.
ToolsHole punches, rotary cutter, ruler, cutting mat, leather hammer, edging tool, black leather dye, heavy needles, snap and rivet setters. I used an industrial machine and a laser cutter, but all of it can be punched and sewn by hand.

Part 1 · Pattern and test

Step 01

Design and pattern

Fibers come off the shoulders to make the wings, on a black leather base with a feathered look and a holster in the back for the light. Two tiers of feathers give the fibers an even surface and keep them hidden underneath. The pattern pieces are attached to the original guide, sized for the RGB Critter.

Step 02

Base pattern

Draft the base with a deep scoop in the back for more vertical room. Start in fabric, then move to thick paper: it holds its shape and is easy to adjust with scissors and tape.

Step 03

Test the base

Add adjustable paper straps, put it on a form and lay the fibers over it. Then try it on friends with different body types. That is how you land a near universal fit and the strap lengths for a range of sizes.

Step 04

Wing pattern

The wing tiers should lift off the base to shape the fibers. Offset the two wing layers about 1/2" from the edge and close the gap with a strip of leather and rivets, so you never stack four layers of thick leather in one seam.

Step 05

Test the leather

Test your laser settings and your rivets before the real piece. The laser raster burned the dye off the black leather, so it needed re-dyeing and a damp-towel scrub to lose the sheen. Angled rivets set best with the base taped down and gentle hammering along the rivet's angle.

Step 06

Prototype

Make a prototype to check fiber direction and where the holes go. Faux leather behaves nothing like leather, so pick a better stand-in. Tiny zip ties at the feather tips were too visible; stretchy clear cord won.

Part 2 · Cut the leather

Step 07

Cut and finish the straps

Back and side strap about 45" (it runs inside the back and becomes the front straps). Under bust strap: your under bust plus about 6". Two side buckle straps: 4" finished, so cut 8". Cut as cleanly as you can, trim the edges and burnish if your leather allows.

Step 08

Lay out the pattern

Leather comes in uneven hides. Plan the layout around holes and marks before you cut anything.

Step 09

Cut it out

Do air passes first. The raster took about an hour. My tested settings didn't cut all the way through on the real job and I had to finish by hand, so run a little overpowered on a big piece.

Step 10

Prep the pieces

Dye the rastered pattern black and wipe the excess well. Punch the holes where the fibers will feed through to the top of each wing layer (they're in the laser files), and awl the tie-down holes at the feather tips.

Part 3 · Build the harness

Step 11

Sew the back pocket

Sew a 3" strap to the center bottom of the base to hold the light, leaving extra so you can size it later. Sew on each side piece aligned along the bottom, stopping about 1" from the bottom to leave room for the chest strap.

Step 12

Add stretch panels

Stretch panels give the piece some flex for different bodies and for movement. It still came out fairly rigid, but they help.

Step 13

Sew the wings together

Join the wing layers to each other first, flush along the inside edge. It makes attaching them to the base much easier.

Step 14

Sew the wings to the base

Line everything up and sew from the middle out, about 1/2" in from the edge. That offset is what avoids a chunky four layer edge.

Step 15

Add the snaps

Set the side and top snaps of the back pouch. Put the light in, trim the bottom strip for a snug fit, set the last snap, then cut a window over the buttons. The handle tends to twist over time; a quarter turn of the light keeps the buttons in the window and it still works fine.

Step 16

Add the chest strap

Skip D rings: unless it's tailored to one person, the buckle ends up off center. Run the chest strap through the pouch, behind the light, so it centers on anyone.

Step 17

Attach the trim

Wet and bend the trim to fit the deep curve in the back. Rivet from the center out, punching each hole right against the wing seam. Tape the rivet base down, hammer gently and at the rivet's angle, and keep pliers and snips handy to swap out a bad one.

Step 18

Make the side buckles

Short sliding buckles (4") join the strap ends to the front. Make the bottom loop big enough to slide over the chest strap with room for a tail, rivet it, then wrap the center bar buckle and sew it.

Part 4 · Fiber time

Step 19

Feed the fibers

Each side has two bundles: one between the base and the first wing layer, one between the two wing layers. With 360 fibers and 46 holes, that's 7 or 8 fibers per hole. Split the bundle evenly, fix it to the base, then pull groups of 8 (or 7) through. Re-punch any hole you can't reach.

Step 20

Tie off the fibers

With a thick blunt needle and stretchy clear cord, wrap each bundle twice through the tip cuts and tie two tight square knots. A drop of super glue on each, let it dry, trim the ends.

Step 21

Tidy the base

Where the bundle leaves the pouch it threw too much light from the side, so I wrapped each side in black cord, anchored through punched holes, and tied the bundles down with clear cord and glue.

Step 22

Add lift

Once the fibers were in, their weight flattened the wing tiers. Stacked 1/2" EVA foam tape between the layers brings back the separation.

Trim and shape: Fiber Optic Wings build photo

Step 23

Trim and shape

Cut each bundle from short in front to long in back, measuring from the floor, then trim along a straight line between them. To straighten a stubborn side, lay the fibers taut on the floor and warm them gently until they relax, then cut the heat and hold a few seconds to set. Easy to overdo, so practice on trimmings. Layer each bundle for more points of light.