Hats off!

It's really worrying now that I realise Supanova is over for April and JAFA is only a few short days away. I think I have it all under control. My gowns are done and now I am just finalising headwear. Speaking of which, I have just finished my Georgian picnic hat. As in, the hat I am intending to wear with my green skirt and jacket ensemble. I am proud to say that this hat is made entirely by hand. I was a pain to do and my fingers are a little sore, but it was well worth it. I am very pleased with how it has come together. It is made from black wool felt and buckram.

My first problem in making this hat was that I didn't have a pattern. I was using a sketch from a book as my guide of how I wanted it to look. So I pulled out a pattern that I did have from an Edwardian hat and made a few adjustments. The crown had to by higher, so I extended that. And the brim had to be bigger. I wanted my hat to be massively large. I ended up adding an extra 5cm (or 2inches) to the brim. This did make for some challenges later on. I also needed my hat to have no visible machine stitching and I really don't like using glue on my historical hats either (been there, done that, hated the hat!). I won't go into how I made it because there is a whole lot of babbling going on there and no photos to go with it. But all in all my hat has turned out well. I even hand hemmed the silk hat bow. The flowers are attached to pins so that they can easily be removed and I have just bought some large feathers to go in it that are also removable. The idea being that I can easily re-trim the hat and that none of the decorations will get squashed in my suitcase.

At any rate, this should keep my face shielded from the sun and here is hoping that it looks awesome as well. I am considering actually making up the pattern and a full photographic guide to sell on etsy. Maybe once I get back from JAFA. Of course, I will need to work out how to line the wretched thing. Mine doesn't have a lining because I found a lovely instruction on-line quoting that Georgian hats generally had no lining. It doesn't look the best on the inside, but at least it's certainly not going to fall apart. It will be interesting to see how I fit in a car with my huge skirts, wig and hat. :)