Hagrid is one of the most endearing characters in the Harry Potter series, a fantastic juxtaposition of physical size & strength with a heart so tender that he becomes weak to any beast of any sort that falls onto his path. His pink umbrella is an iconic reminder of the gentleness that comes with the wooly Hogwarts groundskeeper. That umbrella just had to be made into an ornament for the tree!
I started poking around the internet to see how folks were making miniature umbrellas. There were lots of origami umbrellas out there but they didn't have the right look. I looked at fabric umbrellas and by those who had made a fully articulated umbrella that could be open and closed. I didn't think I needed to go that far with my umbrella but I really liked the look of the fabric.
I played around with some scraps I had, cutting them into various canopy shapes and sizes. Despite not wanting a fully functioning umbrella, I found that adding wire was necessary to hold the shape of the umbrella. Using an iron to create the folds of the canopy also helped with that.
Strolling down the aisles of Jo-Ann's one day, some head pins in the jewelry department caught my eye. Not only were they already the prefect length at 4 inches, but I visualized the heads of the pins becoming the tips of the umbrella's ribs.
I wanted to cap the umbrella with a scrapbooking eyelet but the bamboo skewer I planned to use for the shaft required 1/8" size, which wasn't a standard craft store carry. I was able to find some on Amazon but they were a splurge at nearly $8 for a minimum package size of 200. You could certainly make a nice umbrella without them, but since all of other supplies for this project were fairly inexpensive, I went for it.
Supply List:
1/4 yard pink fabric - purchased at Hobby Lobby, this is enough fabric to make 5 umbrellas
4" silver head pins - purchased at Jo-Ann's, they come in a package of 24, enough for 3 umbrellas
bamboo skewers - these can be picked up at most any grocery store
1/8" silver eyelets - purchased at Amazon
brown polymer clay - any brand will do
brown and silver paint - to paint the shaft and the ferrule
1/4" ribbon that coordinates with the pink - used as the closing strap
floral wire - for attaching the clay handle
twist tie or similar light weight wire
Fray Check - purchased at Jo-Ann's with a coupon (always a coupon!)
spray starch - optional but I found it helpful
craft glue
super glue
iron
coping saw or something else capable of trimming down the bamboo skewer
paint brush
wire cutters
sewing scissors
Umbrella template printed on card stock
Step 1.
I started with ironing the fabric and applied a little spray starch to add a little stiffness, making the fabric easier to work with. My husband expressed his usual dramatic shock that I was using this seldom touched household item: "Oh my God, I didn't know you even knew what one of those was!" He's said the same thing for 22 years now, it just never gets old to him. (Backstory: Erin and I were tortured with having to iron all of our clothing growing up, even our blue jeans! So yes, I do avoid using our iron. Yes Mom, I do often look like I just rolled out of bed in the clothes I'm wearing. No Mom, I don't think the rest of the world really cares that much.)
Step 2:
I traced the umbrella template with my pencil on the fabric. Erin resized another blogger's template to suit my needs and it can be found here. Credit for the original pattern goes to Joann L. Swanson at DIY Dollhouse Miniatures. She designed it for a very cute doll umbrella door hanger filled with flowers. Her post also gave me the idea for using an eyelet for the umbrella cap. Thanks, Joann!
Step 3:
I applied Fray check to the edges of my umbrella canopy so the edges would not fray after it was cut out. It takes 15- 20 minutes for this to dry. Then I cut out my design. Try to cut inside of your pencil tracing lines so that these aren't visible in the finished project.
Step 4:
I then used the iron to create my first set of folds. Match each set of eight points together and iron them so that you have a nice crisp fold.
Step 5:
Lay a line of craft glue into each of the valleys of the folds you created. Face the head pins outward so that the head just barely tips over the edge of the fabric, laying them gently into the line of glue. You'll probably have to work with the head pins a bit in advance to straighten them as best you can. It doesn't have to be perfect but ideally they should lay straight and flat. Go find something else to do because it will take awhile for this step to dry. Note: You could probably use hot glue for this step but I avoid it because I'm not very good with a glue gun. My precision is poor and I always burn myself.
Step 6:
To make the shaft, I used a coping saw to cut a bamboo skewer down to 5 1/4" long, keeping the point of the skewer to act as the umbrella ferrule. You could also probably use a serrated knife or craft knife to accomplish this.
Step 7: Umbrella Handle
I chose to make a crook as the umbrella handle. I know the movie umbrella had a straight handle, presumably to appear more wand like, but I wanted a classic umbrella look.
To make the crook, take a length of floral wire and wrap it around the blunt end of the skewer and leave about 1 3/4" hanging straight off of the end. Snip any excess with the wire cutters. This is to give your clay stability and to prevent it from falling off the skewer after baking it.
It took me a couple of tries to get this right. I had to go back and roll the clay straight and then bend it again. After I got my handle bent into shape, I worked to gently smooth it out the clay until it looked nice. I used a craft knife to trim and create a straight edge at the top of the handle around the shaft. Bake your clay piece according to the manufacturers directions for the brand of clay you used.
Paint the umbrella shaft light brown, and the pointy ferrule end silver.
Step 8:
Back to the umbrella canopy. With the glue dry, you are going to use your iron again to create the second set of folds on the inner points of the canopy pattern. These folds will be the inverse direction of the last set of folds. That means you'll be working on the side with the glued pins. Be careful to keep the tip of the iron away from the dried glue or you will end up with burnt glue on your umbrella canopy and on your iron.
Step 9:
Next, use the pointy end of a skewer to carefully poke a hole in the middle of the canopy and use super glue to attach the eyelet being used for the cap of the umbrella. Slide the pointy end of the skewer through the underneath side of the eyelet until it stops naturally as the skewer becomes to thick to pass through the eyelet. Secure in place with a but more super glue.
Step 10:
Lightly squeeze the canopy down into a closed position and play with the folds until you've arranged them in a way that you're pleased with. I suggest focusing on one side that will be the one facing out on the tree and not to worry about the other. Use a twist tie to hold the folds in place and snip off any excess twist tie in the back.
Use a small piece of ribbon or trim to cover the twist tie. You could probably even use a scrap of the pink fabric to create a closure strip. Now you can play with the wire a bit at the wider end and fan the umbrella out a bit if you like.
Attach a hook of your choice for hanging, you are done!
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