How to Make a Uchiwa fan

 Hey everyone! Today I'll be showing you how to make a cute uchiwa fan. You may remember seeing one in a past tutorial I did and my promise to make a tutorial. Took a lot longer than expected due to sorting and editing the pictures I took after the fact. Here's a picture of my first fan:

Materials:

• Cardboard box (a cereal box or pancake mix box will work)
• Attached chopsticks (the ones that are separated won't work)
• Glue (One that dries clear to avoid mistakes showing)
• Scissors (regular ones and fabric scissors depending on your covering material)
• Clips (either binder or clothes ones can work. Wood ones can stick to glue though)
• Compass (the ones for drawing circles)
• Ruler
• Paint, nail polish, or whatever you wish to paint the handle with
• Cloth, paper, a plastic bag, or whatever you wish to have for the cover of your fan
• Ribbon or bias tape to cover the edge
• Decorations (lace, ribbon, rhinestones, charms, etc.)

Let's start off by painting the handle so it has time to dry before we need it. Using paint or a nail polish that goes along with the cover for the fan you're using, paint the chopsticks leaving a bit unpainted at the top so you can hold it while painting (see image below). Let this dry. If you used a matte paint and want the handle to be glossy (recommended to avoid splinters) go over the handle with a clear nail polish after the original paint has dried. Let this dry completely.

Leave room so you don't get paint on yourself!

Yay for creative drying racks!

While the handle is drying, cut along the seam of the cardboard box you're using and open it up (see image below). Determine the size of the box along the shortest part of the front or back of the box. Set your compass to half this measurement and make the largest circle you can.

Now, turn your circle into an oval by shifting the compass over a bit and drawing another curve outside the circle. I recommend using a ruler to make sure the sides are even (see image below).

Cut this out, then place it on the other side of the box. Trace a rough outline using the first oval as a template. cut this rough oval out, then line the other one up with it and cut to match. Once you have the ovals cut out, it's time to start assembling the fan. Start by figuring out how much handle you want showing. I held the handle about where I wanted to hold it when it was done and positioned the cardboard accordingly (see image below). Mark the cardboard at the sides and the top of the handle so you can place it properly later.

Leave a little extra room above  your hand.

Working quickly, spread a thin layer of glue over both cardboard ovals. I used a brush for more even spreading. Place the handle in the outline you marked an spread glue on its other sides. Sandwich the handle between the two cardboard ovals. Place clips on both sides of the handle, on both ends of the oval, and across from the handle to keep everything together. Place clips around the rest of the fan's edge while the glue dries (see image below).

After the glue has dried, remove the clips and do any touch up gluing necessary. Time to cover up the cardboard! Place your fan on top of the material you'll be covering it with and mark an outline slightly bigger than the size of the fan. Cut two of these out and proceed to glue the first side on. Glue it on in sections instead of all at once to make it easier to smooth out the material as you work. Since I used fabric for this fan, I folded over the excess fabric round the edge of the fan. You can skip this step and just trim off the excess if you use an opaque ribbon or trim for the edge of the fan. While waiting for the edge to finish drying, I started playing around with my decorations to determine how I wanted to arrange them (see image below).

Once you decide on the decorations, start gluing them on. If you have multiple layers in one place, glue each layer separately to keep it from getting messed up. Also, be careful when gluing lace and other such fabrics to not let it dry too long or the clip could get glued on too and damage the material when you take it off. Now you're finished!

The finished fan.

You can make all sorts of different sized fans by using larger or smaller boxes. For small fans, use a popsicle stick instead of the chopsticks and cut or break off any excess. Have fun!

My fans thus far.

All pictures were  taken by me unless otherwise noted. Please ask permission if you wish to use them. I'm on Twitter now! @animlolicouture