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