A Winter Hat

Just finished a lovely taupe fur felt hat made to order (so it fits like a glove) my client so happy she wore it out the door, a nice wearable cloche shape perfect for our winter weather.

Oh La La Sculptural Feather Hat

the finished product covered in back glossy feathers....oh la la....
......a fine hat !

decide on the shape - I have used my trusty poupe (milliners mannequin) to help me decide on the shape detail, note the pins holding all in place while the felt dries on the poupe......

above sew well in the corners the wire will be bound with petersham or velvet eventually to cover completely

the shape is wired (I have used white wire so that you can see what I am doing but normally I would use black wire) to keep it's shape and note the detail on the tight corners - easiest to bend the wire to fit and sew well at corners.......

Adding Swarovski detail to Black Velvet Flowers

Winter Winter Winter..........IT'S HERE

WOW we are suffering some VERY VERY COLD weather here in Melbourne these will keep you toasty warm...........top is 'Cutie Pie' and below 'City Slicker'

Winter Bow Hat

we LOVE dress up time, Keva wears style I have just finished, 'Winter Bow Hat' in black wool felt with contrast stitching, look here for more photo's...have also just made in customers own (silk) fabric....top photo.......stunning.

City Slicker Cap

Cuter than cute, this is the latest mini cap I have created 'Baby Do You Love Me' just finished and ready to roll ! $169.00

Just finished and in time for the winter weather 'City Slicker Cap' in wool felt with shiny trim and the most perfect little bow trim $189.00

The Finished Hat

Finished the black hat with contrast stitching , have added faux patent headband and finished the brim with some velvet. This is the first time I have used the new stretch velvet to edge a brim and I think that although it is way easier to get a good edge the colour is not quite black enough to my liking although no one else would notice but to my eye it is just not black/black. Added a lining that matched the stitching which is a nice touch and unexpected. Note the double brim so that I only have the detail stitching on the top, just another detail which is probably lost on many (but not me) !

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.

Felt Colours for Winter 2

Some more lovely Kopka colours...but still deciding.