Friday 28 January 2011

Adventures in hat making: Edwardian hat, part 5

I haven't touched this project since the beginning of december, but I'd never gotten round to showing the progress I had made with it. So here it is.



The buckram base of the brim. Instead of having sharp creases it's now turned bubbly. I guess I don't have to tell you that this is bad.

BTW the diameter of the hat is a stunning 63 cm.



The top of the hat has turned out nicely. This is the buckram and wire base with mull.The next step will be covering it with black wool felt fabric.



I've got feathers to decorate my hat! And I am extremely happy with that! I was searching on the internet for a while and couldn't find anything affordable. When I found these in a local shop. There a three clusters of black feathers and one of purple feathers. These are more purple then they appear on the photograph, and the difference between the black and purple feathers is much less visible. Which is a good thing as I am not completly happy with how they look with the plum silk fabric I have for the bow and other hat decorations.

The brim is turning out to being quite a nightmare. I have ironed it flat with a hot steam iron and stuck it between two wooden boards. Hopefully it will be flat when it's dry.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Esther, If you know anyone in the Philadelphia, PA area (in the states) please share information on this event featuring costume curator and artist Edward Maeder.

Please see www.maedermade.blogspot.com

Thank you!

Virgil Allen Moore said...

Beautiful Hat. Have you ever considered making it out of a sturdy leather than a fabric? The hat would hold it's shape far longer that way. you might even be able to get an extra 10cm out of it that way.

Virgil Allen Moore
http://demonvampire.com/

Esther said...

Greetings!

Thank you for the suggestion.

Sewing leather is a bit harder that sewing buckram and fabric, and a little bit heavier when wearing the hat.

But it certainly might be an option, if my current buckram base doesn't become flat.

Initially the hat was even bigger, but as I am quite small I felt kinda ridiculous. So I guess I am not bold enough to wear a size bigger.