Crafty Hats

So, it's been forever since I have posted anything, I know.  I'm sorry.  Life happens.  Anyway, on to the fun craft that Jen R. and I did last night!

So, our MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) group had a Tea Party this morning, and each table (assigned groups) was responsible for our own decorations, theme, and food.  Our table, Chemistry Chicas, decided to do a vintage garden theme, and several of us wanted to make our own hats.  We tried to get together a few times, but it ended up being just Jen and me at my house, and everybody else on their own.  Jen found this great pattern for a fabric flower that made a great headpiece she glued to a headband (I'll try to link her blog when she gets it up).  I had made a felt pillbox hat and was going to go with Jackie O. style, but nobody else seemed to really dig that, and one of the other moms made her own fascinator hat in chic retro style, so I was inspired to follow suit. 

I couldn't find my gardeny dress that I made to wear, so I was going with a black-and-white number I picked up at the thrift shop this week (although I ended up wearing a black, white, and red one I had).  So, after pouring through the "images" I found when I Googled "fascinator," I finally decided that I really wanted to do one with a shaped base.  I pondered that for a few minutes before coming up with an old (washed) large yogurt container as the base piece.  It was a really big one, so the curve was just about right, and it was thin enough to really have negligible weight and sufficient give while still being sturdy.  I'll detail my process below.


So I cut out the shape I wanted:

Since my dress is black and white, I decided to cover this in a plain matte black (bottom weight, nothing special).  So I traced the shape of the base piece on my fabric, and cut about 1/2 inch outside the line (it doesn't have to be perfect), then a second piece exactly on the line, or even a little inside the line.

I used a hot glue gun (I think I used the low-temp one for this) to glue the large piece onto the top of the base piece, and around the edge, turning the fabric under and gluing.

Next, I trimmed the smaller fabric piece to a little less than the size of the base and glued it on the underside.

Voila!! The base is done and ready for embellishment.  Inspired by some of the hats at the recent royal wedding, I decided to go with some tulle in an asymmetric sortof bow, which I hot-glued close to the center of the base piece.  To do this, I cut about 2 feet (?) of tulle, about 8-10 inches wide, and looped it, with one loop wildly longer than the other, and the raw ends underneath.  I sortof tucked the raw sides inside (like turning them under as if to hem, but then not).

I had purchased a few different embellishments and wasn't sure what I would use, but in the end, I decided to go with standard hat-fare, and just used feathers.  I used black and white small feathers (well, my whites were off-white, but...), alternating them with mostly black, and white as just an accent.  I hot-glued them on top of the place where I glued the tulle. and facing the front of the hat, pointing towards the larger loop.  See the pic- it's much clearer than the explanation.  Then, for some additional flare, I added a peacock feather I had leftover from another old project.  To cover up all the glue and the ends of the feathers, I added a black faceted button-type novelty (with the high-temp hot glue).

I thought it was very pretty at this point, and was tempted to call it done, but when I tried it on, Jen pointed out that the black feathers almost disappeared in my dark hair.  So, I decided to add some red ribbon to spice it up and make it pop.  So I found some wide (very lightly wired) ribbon, and just glued it on- no hemming necessary.  I just glued the ends under and left the edge sticking out almost like a brim.  I think the effect was really quite lovely.

I also high-temp glued a barette to the bottom of the underside (although I accidentally got it backwards, it still worked).  I was careful to open the barrette before gluing so it would still work.  And that is my beautiful hat.

I thought it turned out rather well, and looked pretty on, too.  I actually won the "Fancy Nancy" award at the tea party.  I think it was the peacock feather that did it.  I wouldn't wear it with the peacock anywhere besides a silly party, but when I got home I removed the peacock feather, and I think it would do for a wedding- royal or otherwise.  I may just have to find a place to wear it.  Or maybe I'll make another to go with a different dress the next time I need to dress up.  It was a lot of fun to make and to wear as well.  I would love it if hats came back, what fun!!!

And here's the cute flower one Jen made.