Saturday, June 5, 2010

hat decorations

After reshaping my beachcomber hat into a more suitable shape, the last step was just to decorate it.  I looked through some of my books of Edwardian fashion plates and decided to do a cluster of roses on one side with a fabric band that was loosely inspired by the hats from this 1909 Mode Illustree picture.


I am a big believer in hot-glue millinery, so all of the decorations were quickly added just hours before the event started.  I glued strips of silk to the crown first to create the band, then added heirloom-style silk roses that I bought on sale at Michael's.  I filled in the gaps around the flowers with smaller strips and loops of silk.   


front



back

I also made two super-long hat pins by sharpening the ends of some spring steel rods, which you can buy at hobby shops that cater to the model airplane crowd.  Then I just superglued a few glass beads to the other end.

Unfortunately, I didn't look in a mirror when putting my hat on at the suffragette event, so the flowers were too far to the side and back for my taste.  But it still looked great for side-view pictures, and overall, I was very pleased with the way it turned out.  I hope this tutorial gives you a few ideas to help you with your next millinery project!

8 comments:

Maggie said...

That looks seriously amazing!

cathgrace said...

My husband said "that's fabulous, she done good!" when I showed it to him!

Anonymous said...

Really pretty, what a transformation! I'll have to keep my eyes out for roses like that, they're gorgeous.

Time Traveling in Costume said...

Your hat was amazing! I'm going to be covering an Edwardian hat myself soon, so I liked seeing yours so closely.
Val

Kendra said...

Wow, gorgeous! I'm impressed that you were able to make Michael's roses look so good -- I'm going to have to give those a second look!

Jenny said...

This is perfect! Thanks for posting such good clear photos, and the roses look fab! Would you be absolutely wonderful and past some close ups of your small straw hat that you made for your striped bustle gown, and maybe a few more tips on how you made that? Love your work! :)

Anonymous said...

I just love the colour, shape and proportion of this hat.

Em said...

Wow! So beautiful!
Where did you get the straw hat?

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