Those lovely fans

[Gwyndolyn]

As I walked around the MNRF last month I could not help but notice the lovely fans so many of the ladies had.  Being a crafty gal myself I thought, why buy when I can make one myself.  Well now i am stuck on what to do.  Does anyone know of a tutorial of even a set of directions as to how one makes those handled fans?  Thank you in advance

[Gwyndolyn]

If this is in the wrong place please let me know where it should be so I can go there.

[isabelladangelo]

I'm going to guess you mean a feather fan - which is period- rather than a flag (another period fan) or a folding (not really period) fan.  You can see a variety from period art here: http://www.larsdatter.com/fans.htm

What I have seen most people do is buy a dowel or large popsicle stick, two wooden appliques, a bit of poster board, a ton of feathers, and some gold paint.   Cut out 2 small (doll size) fan shapes from the poster board.   Start gluing and arranging the feathers to the poster board.  Paint the wooden appliques.   Place the dowel on the backside (non feathered side) of one of the poster boards and glue it down.   Do the same with the other poster board so the dowel is sandwiched between the now feathered poster boards.  (You'll want to glue the poster boards together too).   Place & glue the painted appliques on either side of the fan, hiding what you can see of the poster board.   

[Gwyndolyn]

exactly what i was looking for, thank you.  I was not aware of more than one kind or I would have been more specific.

[gem]

The Renaissance Tailor has a *magnificent* tutorial on three types of 16th century fans:

http://www.renaissancetailor.com/demos_fans.htm

[Gwyndolyn]

Thank you Gem, that is exactly what I need

[DonaCatalina]

you can also use a wooden paintbrush as the inner base and the handle. The hole in the end of the paintbrush handle allows you to put ribbons or chain to hang the fan.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

There is a shop at the MNRF that sold fans ranging in price from $15 to $35. I have bought 2 over the last 7 years. I am somewhat rough on them.

[Rowan MacD]

  As fun as some projects are to make, the price of the feathers now days and the risk of ruining them makes it more cost effective to just buy a professionally made fan IMHO.
   The fan I carry in my profile picture was made by Faire & Fowl.  Pheasant and turkey for the main fan, layered with blood pheasant (small, pointy, naturally red color) and imitation egret for a touch of white.   The whole is attached to a stained and varnished paint brush handle.
  To bling it up a bit-I added one of those stretchy one-size-fits-everybody finger rings found in the fashion section of Gordman's and slid it over the handle.   It adds my own little touch, and it's stupid easy to change out the ring when I want a different color gem, or none at all. 
   My fan cost me $60.00 ready to wear-and the feathers would have cost me that much by themselves.   Most fans cost a bit less than that.
   You may use a folding fan if you want-Elizabeth I was known to own a few; the guard sticks were typically jeweled (she is holding one in the Ditchley portrait). They would have been hard to spot in portraits because they weren't depicted in their open state.  Folding fans weren't in popular use until the 1600's

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

My current fan, #3,  pinned to the waistband of my overskirt. I bought this one at the Fan Shoppe at the MNRF in 2010.

[Orphena]

I've made a few in a similar manner to what Isabella suggests - except that I use 3 layers WIDE popsicle sticks (like what your doctor uses to peek at your throat), double sided tape (mounting tape), and metal cones to hold the feathers. The fan handle then gets beaded - simple wire through beads , pearls, etc, and kept in place by a combination of sticking it to the tape, and wiring the strands of beads in place.

For feathers, one of my fans started life as a fancy ostrich feather duster. Many weddings now feature feathers instead of flowers, so I scored additional feathers by searching for a company that supplied them - but yes, you don't save money by making your own. You can however, make something to match your garb!

I've done a few fans using the wide feather "picks" from Michaels in the floral section - and used simple ribbon on the handle instead of beads, but the beads do get more attention from others! Will post photo later if you are interested in seeing!

[LadyFae]

I've made my own, as well.  I use spatulas/scrapers for the base, wrap the handles in ribbons and pearls, glue my feathers down, and add a little bling for fun.  I usually buy my feathers on clearance at JoAnn and Michaels and hoard them until I have enough for a fan or two.  My favorite one has little bells.  I made small feather fans for my 3 daughters, as well, the difference with theirs is that I used little wooden stick masks for the base so they are extra lightweight for them.  I find them to be less expensive to make than to buy, but I am a clearance shopper, for sure!

[Gwyndolyn]

Well, I broke down and got myself 3 fans on the opening day this year, one to match the dress I have, one to match the bodice I got the same day and one that I just love and will make something to match.