I Like Big Hats & I Cannot Lie

The house is only half unpacked, but deadlines loom!  While I won't have time to blog everything I'm making over the next two weeks as I frantically sew, I'll probably be able to post a few quick pics as I go, then follow up later with more in-depth posting.  Since I've got a few free moments, here's what I've got so far.

Silliness in class!

To kick things off, I started with one item that was almost done so that I could feel like I was making some progress.  I started this bonnet almost two months ago in a GBACG workshop taught by Lynn McMasters.  BTW, the GBACG classes are awesome, and if you aren't checking them out you are missing a whole lot of awesome.

Covering the crown edge.

The hat is Lynn's newest Regency Bonnet Pattern, using the large brim.  While I've made buckram hats before, I learned a TON of new tips and tricks from Lynn that I'd never have figured out otherwise.

Mulling the brim and crown.

I chose a beautiful blue and gold cross woven silk taffeta for the main fabric, with a VIVID orange and gold cross woven silk taffeta for the ties.  While beautiful, the fabric is a total bitch to work with.  It shows every wrinkle and crease, and because of the two-toned weave you can't even get a pin near it without leaving very obvious marks.  I had to be careful to make sure that all the pinning and stitching was done in areas that would be covered!

Class was a blast (I love sewing in groups) but of course we weren't able to finish our hats in just one day.  I got as far as assembling the crown and brim separately, covering them in mull and getting the blue silk on.  That alone was a lot of work!

My progress by the end of class.

The above photo is where I started yesterday.  All I had to do was put bias trim on the edge of the brim, attach the brim to the crown, and make the hatband and ties.

Fitting the band.

The bias binding on the edge gave me fits.  I'll likely redo it later, with some sort of crazy vivid trim.  It still needs some froof added in the form of feathers and other adornments, but it's wearable, and that's what counts.

Binding issues aside, I'm thrilled with how it turned out.  Now to create the rest of the outfit to wear with it!

Edited to Add - I forgot to mention that this is my entry for Trystan's awesome Accessorizing Head-to-Toe Challenge.  September project is hats, and I actually finished mine before the end of the month!

Wrestling With Millinery

Finally!  I've had the urge to try my hand at making a hat from scratch for ages, but the closest I've gotten is gluing a handful of crap haphazardly to a cheap hat and calling it good.  Years ago I purchased Lynn McMasters Early Victorian Bonnet pattern, but I never got around to trying it until a few months ago.  Since then the project has sputtered along in fits and starts while I tried to figure out what the hell I was doing.  This hat making business is hard!

 I made a few mistakes in cutting out my buckram (note to self: read the ALL the instructions next time!) so I had to piece in some extra bits to get it right.  I learned that my machine has a love/hate relationship with sewing through buckram and over millinery wire, and my fingers have a hate/hate relationship with handsewing through buckram.  Between all the stitching holding two layers of the stuff together plus a third and fourth layer in some areas, I created... the FrankenBonnet!

 

 

The FrankenBonnet sat on a shelf for a few weeks until I got around to mulling it (mulling is the process of covering the form with flannel to smooth out all the ridges and bumps).   After covering it with one layer of flannel I could still see a lot of ridges from all the stitching, so I stuck another layer on to be safe.  I needn't have bothered, as the fashion fabric I ended up using was rather thick in its own right, but at the time I was considering covering it in a thin silk which would have shown every bump.

The hat sat around for another few weeks as I tried to figure out what to do with it.  I wanted something much plainer than what was pictured on the pattern, and I wanted it to go well with my Dickens dress without being too matchy-matchy.  A remnant of brown and black wool fabric in a donated box at work caught my eye, and I decided it was perfect.  Now to get it on the hat...

 Pinning everything inside-out to get a proper fit

 

    

Lots of pins to hold it all in place while the glue dries

Thankfully, it didn't go too terribly!  The pattern has you put trim everywhere there's a join in the fabric, so you don't have to be too neat about it.  I chose not to put trim at each seam though, so I had to make neat seams with as little bulk as possible.  I'm amazed it turned out so well!

I got a bit crazy and decided to use some of the extra evil silk gauze of evil from the lattice gown for the inside of the bonnet.  It behaved as per its usual bitchy self, but by and large I wrestled it into submission.  I gathered a loooong and wide strip of it and fitted it along the inside, stitching it down along the outer edges and a couple of inches in from the back of the hat.

 

  

 Yup, still evil.

After attaching the silk and the last piece of outer fabric, I bound the edge with a wide strip of brown silk ribbon.  I sewed it down on the outside (and wow my machine stitched through all that like butter), then flipped it over to stitch the inside by hand.  Unfortunately, you can't successfully use a straight needle on an inside curve like that, and my only curved needle was a honkin' big upholstery one that was ill-suited to making nice neat stitches.  I ended up gluing the inside edge down, which left me with an uneven edge and bits of glue showing through the thin silk.  *sigh*  I'll pull it off one of these days and redo it properly by hand, but for now I'm crunched for time and it will have to do.  At least all that gathered silk looks preeeeetty. 

  
I've left the inside back unfinished for now while I wait to get my wig.  I want to see how the hat sits, and whether I need to add anything back there to help it fit right.  The FrankenBonnet is still visible, and that amuses me greatly for no particular reason. 

 

Oh hai.

Now the fun part- trimming!  My boyfriend generously donated the first cravat I made for him to the cause, and I added a few flowers from Michaels.  I'll be adding more very soon so that the poor bonnet doesn't look quite so bare, but this is it for now. 

 

The little ruffle that covers the back of the neck is only half the length it should be, but I ran out of fabric, so it'll have to do.  

 

  

 

All in all I love it, and I can't wait to see how it looks worn with the wig!