Fine Straw Hat : making

the finished hat !! I have taken lots of photo's of me making this hat so you (hopefully) can follow the steps required to get such a finish. I started with a beautiful fine straw in a sensational dark cream colour which helps with the whole effect. I'll often hang onto a hood for years before I take the plunge and make a hat out of it as you need all the elements around you that you know will work well together.....as I am moving studio and shop I have uncovered some lovely materials and came across the soft tulle that I draped around the crown of this hat....and so it all began !

below the desk so often so full of 'stuff' you can't see the actual desk but then out of this mess a hat emerges. You can see the hat shape taking place I have just finished wiring the brim and softly letting the edge wave.....I also decided that the edge should have a tiny, tiny edge so as to not distract from the straw and so I chose a satin bias which took me a couple of months to find the exact colour I wanted (an ecru colour)....

 

Hand Covered headband

The base for many a fine headband, I use silk with beaded tulle overlay to achieve this 'lush' look, above is the finished design.

You only get to see a small amount of detail however the whole shape and look would be very different on a flat band.

This is the latest in customers own fabric, below.

Often the beading has to be re attached as below.

I tie off the ends of the beading to make sure that they do not shift
or drop off while being worn, as below.

An earlier post you will remember this is how I hand cover
the flatter metal bands in petersham.

How to Make a Hat with Stitch Detail

I attach the ribbon by stitching in place from the underside hiding all the stitches under the headfitting.

Where the ribbon meets I decide to have a small feature in the center of the ribbons, this is just the same ribbon width however I have folded it so that it is narrower as this always looks better.

Using pins I decide where I have to curve the ribbon with the iron and where I will stop the curve and have the ribbon straight so that it sits flat on the brim.

Matching the ribbon for around the crown luckily I have the exact colour in a vintage petersham. I have also heavily stitched this ribbon so that it matches in both colour and texture.

Stitching from the underside is trimmed of loose ends.

You have to be prepared to squish the crown to get the stitching where you want it. No stiffener on this brim (some slight sizing on the crown) and so it is all quite flexible - my trusty ol 'singer' is perfect for this job as she will stitch any thickness and gives a beautiful even long stitch length.

Working out the pattern I used a silver pencil so I had a rough guide for my stitches, pins are there also just as a guide and as I draw with the silver pencil I remove the pins as pins in a brim while you are doing this intense stitching can throw you off and cause your stitching to go haywire. I want the stitching to emulate a ribbon detail that you would find on a 1940's style hat.

Making hats for the shop and this is how I go about making a felt hat with stitched detail. The colour of the hat and stitching pretty much needs to be spot on as I think it looks better unless it is decided that a contrast would be good ie. black with cream stitching. I made this hat from a lovely burgandy coloured Peach bloom hood. The cotton I have stitched with matches perfectly as does the ribbon I have used on the headfitting and hat band.

Stephen Jones video

In March 2010, 'Hats, an Anthology by Stephen Jones' will start touring the world for the next six years. Its first port of call will be Australia.
A video from the recent Stephen Jones Exhibition at the V&A that I was lucky enough to see in London in May this year, see a Stephen Jones hat made from beginning to end, check this out !

On 25th February 2009, Stephen staged a major exhibition at the V&A, London attracting 100,000 visitors, introducing both fashionistas and novices to the wonderful world of millinery. Working with radical hat designer, Stephen Jones, the V&A presented an 'Anthology of Hats'. Drawn from V&A and international collections and ranging in style and period from a 17th-century Puritan's hat to a 1950s Balenciaga couture piece to hats by Jones and his contemporaries including to the latest creations by young milliners such as Noel Stewart, the exhibition investigated the cultural and historic importance of millinery. The exhibition is arranged in four main themes - Inspiration looks at the myriad of sources including historicism, exoticism and the natural world; Creation explores the techniques, materials and processes; The Salon focuses on the buying and selling of hats and the millinery shop; and The Clients which examines the wearing and etiquette of hats and features headgear worn by well known clients of some of the world's top milliners including Gala Dali, Isabella Blow, Anna Piaggi, Dita von Teese.

Parade Piece and Amelia's Made to Order Headband

Just found these photo's of the glorious parade piece I made for Mercedes fashion week 2006, also stretchy headband for clients little girl Amelia. Amelia looks so cheeky in the photo's but is the sweetest little girl and now a perfect picture in her headband.

How to Cover Headband

Just sent the whole day (!) covering headbands with narrow Petersham for a wholesale order and am not finished yet - only half way through. Have got this down to a fine art now just got to concentrate and get the stitching straight and all pushes onto the narrow metal bands quite well. The join of the petersham is hidden under the trim of the finished product. All stitched on my trusty Singer straight sewer.