Flash and Trash - Part XVIII

Plans  and a Good Start for a Hat

I normally do not make hats for my art garments, but for this one, I thought it might be something fun to try.  I usually will spend quite a bit of time finding the right vintage hat, gloves, purse, shoes and jewelry for the outfit.  Because of the uniqueness of the vest, a matching hat certainly would be better than hoping I could just the right piece to go with it.

Because I wanted something simple, I decided to go with Vogue 8052.  Fortunately, Threads published an article a few months back from which I also gleaned a lot of useful information.  It is called Millinery Marvels from Feb./Mar. 2011, pp. 49-53.

Since I had leftover velvet, that seemed to be the right thing to start with.  I found just enough buckram in my collection to stitch together to make the foundation of the hat.  I cut the pieces to the correct size, then wet and steamed it into shape and let it dry.

After that, I added the silk flowers in the same way as the vest, by stitching them down with decorative threads and embellishing them with beads and sequins.  You can see the top of the hat below, waiting for the bead work.

So far, this has been pretty easy and I'm really enjoying the hat making process.

Q/A:  From Sewing Spots:  "I don't suppose you'd care to elaborate with a detailed post about label making?"  Actually, I have done at least one in the past.  Doing a quick blog search turned up this post from the making of Ride 'Em Cowboy. 

Regarding Wellie, ashley0107 asked, "I have to ask, where did he get his name from?"  His full name is Wellington.  He's part of the New Zealand series of cats.  We also have a cat named Kiwi.  For some reason we name cats as part of a series.  We had a computer series for a while, with a Router, Proxy and had the name Packet picked out if we'd adopted a third cat. 

Lastly, Kelley asked for some history of my antique sewing machine.  It is a Singer treadle and is a family piece; it does work, and has a belt, but I've never really put it all together and got it going.  My sewing machine dealer could do that for me, as he also deals in antique machines.  It was my husband's great aunt's machine brought down to Maine from Nova Scotia.  We got it from her, who was storing at the time in the loft of the cabin on her property on an island off coastal Maine (the island is connected by a causeway to the mainland).  She made us promise not to sell it or give it away out of the family before we took.  That means I'll be handing it down some day.  

Next week is spring break for the children, I will be taking a blog break for the week.  I will be back with more Flash and Trash, Make The Look and whatever else I've decided to work on the first Monday in May (that sounds so far away, but it isn't!).

Tomorrow is Easter, I hope you have a wonderful day and celebrate the risen Savior!

Parting Shot:  Snow.  No, I'm not kidding.  It showed here today.  I'm pretty sure it will all be gone in the morning, but it was a little disappointing to see it coming down and then accumulating.