Buckram, Bird, and Nest--The Hat!

Last post I promised to show you the progression of a custom hat I made for a client going to a Spring dance...which would also have a hat contest. She is a funky, cool dresser; lots of European designs, lots of abstract cuts, fun layering of pieces. Love her style! And she wanted a hat that would NOT be typical, something that would compliment her style.

Oh, and she is a collector of bird's nests, and wanted that to be the focus of the hat. Scroll down and follow the making of her hat. What fun this was!

I started with a Juliet shaped buckram frame. Client loves neutral tones so we decided to stay with black, to go with the fabulous black tulle skirt she was going to wear.

I've covered the buckram form with black velour. She loved the black patent leather bird I had on hand, but requested that she 'fly.' Hence, the black millinery wire you see here.

We also wanted to incorporate bits of straws, the kind a bird might use to make a nest--here you see sinamay and tangle tuft.

Starting to come together! I've attached the bird to her wire, the messy straw bits, and the moss green nest.

Here you see how I've bound the end of the beauty-marked veiling that will be added to the hat. Veiling needs to be bound on the ends before being attached to a hat or fascinator.

I used a tiny bit of super glue to attach the egg to the nest. Also, I've attached the veiling to the hat.

Next I added the lining to the hat. I attached all the elements of the hat before I added the lining so that no stitch lines would show. The lining hides those stitch lines and make a nice finish on the inside.

Here you see the lining stitched in. For some reason any kind of slick/shiny fabric shows stitch lines much more prominently than they show in person. Hence the pick marks you see in the photo above. Bummer.

Here she is! I just love this hat and that the client wanted to step out on a limb, so to speak, in her choice of design.

Close-up of the nest and egg.

And here is the client when she picked up the hat! She was sooooo pleased!

Next post will be from Chicago classes--flowermaking and wire (bridal and fascinators). See you then!

Fascinators, Kentucky Derby, Hat Wearing Events for Spring

Hello, everyone! It has been an incredibly busy Spring. I've been making hats non-stop since January. First for the hat show (several posts back), then our city's largest hat-wearing event in early April--Azalea Garden Party, then Easter, then the Royal Wedding, then Kentucky Derby.

I'm posting quite a few of the hats and fascinators I made for these events. Most were made to coordinate for specific dresses, but some of these were made for a trunk show before our local Royal Wedding event where, I'm happy to say, almost everyone there wore a fascinator! Thanks, Kate Middleton!

Sinamay base with 12" diameter silk flower, vintage green veiling, stripped coqs, curled biots, and a swirl of vintage rooster feathers.

Close-up of the fabulous vintage veiling--delicate and stylish.

Made for a client who had not been, up until this one, a hat-wearer. In fact, she specifically didn't want a hat that would draw attention to herself. However, after she wore this hat, gained some 'hat confidence' she came back and had me add more feathers and some hot pink veiling for another event. I love that kind of story! Now she is a dedicated hat-wearer!!

Close-up of the dyed peacock feathers, coarse petaled flower and a bit of the sinamay.

This hat was made for one of my models from the Spring in Paris show in March. She wanted a show stopper and this what she got. I love the way this hat turned out.

Made for the official photographer for the Azalea Garden Tour. She needed a hat that didn't have a brim, so that it wouldn't interfere with the camera, and one that was NOT traditional. Hence, the free-form, tri-colored sinamay fascinator. I actually added a vintage button to this after the picture was made, but was too busy to make another picture. Yikes!

Another custom-made hat to match a dress. Love this big lily.

Close-up of the lily and the peacock eyes. Guess you have noted that I love the green peacock feathers since they were in another hat further up this post.

Grape parisisal bowl base, 12" magenta flower, and ripped horsehair. This was made for the trunk show and was sold to a very happy customer for Kentucky Derby.

Vintage ribbon, fuzzy pussy willows, yellow rose, and forget-me-nots, all from my collection of vintage embellishments. This was one of my favorite traditional styled hats I made this season.

Black calla lilies, beauty-marked veiling and some rhinestones on the stamens. I added some aqua stripped coqs and this little darling went to the Kentucky Derby!


Vintage blocking net (lacy) form with multi-colored posies, some soft veiling, and a tuft of ostrich feathers.


Close-up of little yellow fascinator.


Simple and sophisticated. I made this as a give-away for a lucky attendee to the Royal Wedding event we had at the beautiful mansion next door to the shop. Confetti feathers!


Custom-made for a grandmother for her newborn grandson's christening! And she has the personality to pull it off.


Store stock...now sold. Made for the trunk show. Horsehair, guinnea feathers, and netted 'jewels' on a hairband.

Hope you enjoyed these. My next post will be about a custom made hat you are going to LOVE. I'll be showing each step of the process. So stay tuned! Thanks for reading and happy hatmaking!