First show!

I just found out I was accepted to sell my hats at the DIY Trunk Show 5.
Mark your calendars:
Saturday, November 17
Pulaski Park Fieldhouse, 1419 W. Blackhawk, Chicago

More hat, less chat No. 1

This is a giant, informal sun hat I made from my redheaded friend Paula, because we redheads have to avoid the sun. The idea was for it to be big and pretty, but, not structured.

Hat blocks

I won a few hat blocks, crowns and 1920's brims, on eBay and also bought one non-wood one with some other supplies.

Hat Blocks

Recycle and Reuse

If I'm ever invited to hang with Laurie David and Al Gore, I'll wear this hat.

Repurposed hat

It is 100% made from materials I reused. Nothing new. (Unless I put a label inside.)

I had an old wool (store bought) hat that didn't fit right. I was going to to donate it to GoodWill, but then I decided to see if I could reblock it. I wish I had a before picture. But it was sort of a basic bowler shape, the band was a wool braid from the same fabric. Nothing special.

So, I reblocked it into this quirky shape (wider on the top, wavy brim, not sure the photos show that). Eva suggested I not put a fitted band inside, because it might pull the crown in too much.

I made the flowers with scraps from other hats (of mine, and Eva's and other people in my class). I made the patterns for the flowers out of cardboard from old tissue boxes (which I have a lot of, because I have been sick).

The buttons were extras that were lying around, and the thread is from the collection Gary gave me from his company samples.

I have a bunch of vintage hats (from Ellen's mom, my grandma and my Aunt Karen's mother). I plan to start making more hats made from these kinds of repurposed elements.

Hats on Heads

I took my sister and sister-in-law their hats this weekend:

Girls in Hats

So, you can see what I ultimately did with the grey hat. I used ribbon with stones embedded as the band, and the most elaborate vintage green buckle with silver on one side (if you click on the photo, you can see a back view which includes it). I finished the edge of the ribbon the same way I did on Gail's hat. I made this as bejeweled as possible, for a straw hat, because Margaret (my sister-in-law) likes jewelry and gemstones.

Hats on the Blocks

I went to the studio today to block some more hats:

Hats on Blocks

Gail's Hat 2.0

I know I said in my last post that I wasn't going to change Gail's hat.

But after I saw my sister's hat, I really didn't like the gray one, despite the fact that I still like the idea of a gray summer hat.

So, I made a new hat for Gail. It is black, with a red ribbon that is transparent, so that you can see the straw through the ribbon.

The hat has a smaller brim in general, and a narrow brim in the back, which I think will fit Gail's style. The brim won't get in the way. She wears these colors frequently.

This was my first try at hemming the ribbon with a contrasting ribbon. I also learned how to fit the ribbon around the crown by adjusting the wire inside the ribbon.

Gail's Hat 2.0

I have not decided what I'll make with the grey hat yet.

Liz's Hat

I asked my sister what kind of hat she wanted. I was surprised she wanted a summer straw hat. She wanted green, blue or neutral, not yellow or red.

This green is more olive than it looks in the picture. I originally had a different band in mind, but it was wide and covered the sloping shape of the hat. I blocked this so the crown would slope into the brim, rather than have a traditional indent. Then, I saw this peacock feather ribbon and knew that was perfect for a girl who works at the zoo.

The buckle is one of a lot of vintage buckles I found on eBay. This one is more textured than some of the others, picking up the texture of the feathers.

The grosgrain around the wired brim took a lifetime to stitch. If you look below at the previous blog entry (hats in progress), you can see this hat after it was blocked but before I put the wire around the brim.

I did not dye this hat, like I did my derby hat. The straw came pre-dyed. The interior grosgrain band is striped, just for fun.

Liz's hat

My hat teacher thinks this is the best hat I've made so far. She said it would sell in a boutique for $250.

The criss-cross of the ribbon in the back sort of makes me want to go back and change Gail's hat. But I won't. Need to move forward.

Hats in Progress

Here are some of the hats on which I am working, both straw and wool:

Hats in progress

Derby Hat

This straw hat I made for myself. It is a finer weave straw than the one I made for Gail, which is both harder and easier to work with.

I dyed this yellow before blocking it.

Originally it was going to have many (3) daisies (which I made), but I decided I didn't want to distract from the shape of the hat.

Usually I am invited to many Derby parties. This year I have a handmade Derby hat, but no parties.

Derby hat

Gail Doesn't Love Summer

My friend Gail feels the way I feel about winter about summer.
So, I made her a grey straw hat. It'll help keep the hot sun off her face and I thought it was funny that summer could be grey.

Gail's hat