Baby Janes

Remember that 4-year period when it was impossible to find Maryjanes that didn't look like bowling shoes, basic ballet style flats were unavailable for under $200 and flip-flops only came in the platform variety? 

This is what happens when all the Captains of Industry want to make a killing selling 'fashionable' shoes at a low price. All the factories in China start exporting hideous crap and only high-end shoemakers, here and in Europe, are left to supply the classic designs.

I think this may have happened to the Flamingo Clip.  Someone discovered she couldn't become an overnight millionaire making them, so everyone stopped. 

I had no idea of what those hair-clips were called before I couldn't find them.  It took many googles to find that name while searching for hair-sectioning-clips-in-plastic.  Flamingo clips look like the curved bill of a bird which explains the name.  Flamingo is so much more '80s than hair-sectioning-clip, so "Miami Vice."  And that's another clue to their demise right there.

Online I found some of the 4 inch model to hold an impromptu french roll and half-inch ones to adorn. But I couldn't find any of the 2-3 inch ones I use to pull the hair out of my face while I'm hunched over a project. 

This got my "dammit I'll make my own" dander up.

You can still find silver colored sectioning clips at beauty-supply shops and truth be told you can find colored plastic sectioning clips there or online.  The thing is you can't easily find the plastic ones in shops, and I hesitate to pay $4 shipping for $3 clips.  On the other hand, wearing plain metal hair-sectioning clips out in public kind of screams "She's desperately poor."  So, the metal ones must be enhanced and here's how I tried.

Polish dries quickly

What I used:

2 Sectioning Clips
Fingernail Polish - I chose green
Hot Glue Gun
Size 0 Crochet Hook (2.25 mm or B)
Size 3 Crochet Thread - I used Royale fashion crochet thread in Sage
A Crochet Motif Pattern - I chose a leaf pattern on Ravelry by Fable Handmade Goods, her "Leaves & Leaf Chain" pattern

Painted, crocheted and ready to glue

Green would be a good background color if you decided to crochet roses or pansies or any kind of flower.  Frankly, there's no reason why you should only crochet enhancements.  Left-over Halloween polish and some sequins could be enough to get that Disco Ball spinning.

A needle-tatted lace insert of outer beaded rings connected by arches or threads would work.  Glue on doll eyes would work -- you would just need a much stronger glue than generic hot-gun.  And why glue something to the clips other than glue?  They do make All-Temp Colored Glue sticks.  No reason you couldn't do free-form spaghetti monster squiggles.  Or snakes.  But I digress.

$-Store pins on top, working clothes-pin bottom.

I painted two clips with two coats of polish and crocheted four leaves with extra-long thread tails.  The tails came in handy.  Don't they always?

 For my first attempt I put the glue on the clip and pressed the leaves on and then clamped with Dollar-Store Clothes Pins. There on the right you'll see that the Dollar-Store Pins are small and not up to the task of pinning clothes to any thing -- but they're just dandy as light-weight clamps.

I unplugged the glue gun and walked away to let things cool.

When I returned I discovered the glue wasn't holding at all.  I lifted the leaves off and then peeled the glue off the clips and started over.

Picking up a couple of threads

3 pins seemed to be better

The second time I applied the hot glue to the leaves and THEN pressed the clips on the glue and clamped immediately.  

A knot to hold it.

When it had cooled the attachment was stronger, but not strong enough to withstand more than one wear.

Using the long tail, I secured the leaves to the clip by picking up a stitch or two on the left side and then running the thread between the clip's mandibles and picking up a couple of stitches on the right side -- back and forth -- all on the underside of the leaves.

So, if you've ever wondered "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane", the answer is she's alive and well and in my apartment and not allowed to go out with these things in her hair. You who are much younger may wear them in public, with my blessing.  I will content myself with finding a tatting insert pattern that might work a little better.  Perhaps some decent, mature, hair-combs is the answer.