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msmcknittingtonThis post will take us from buckram to covering the hat in velvet. The as yet unwritten Phase One (Patterning) will appear when I get around to taking pictures of myself with a grocery bag on my head, which I'm sure won't take too long, since I love to put ridiculous things on my head. I've never been to a party with lampshades, but rest assured that if I do go, there will be one on my noggin in short order.
I am proud to say that there is not a drop of glue on this hat and it is entirely handsewn. Additionally, all materials came out of my stash, but the final cost would probably be less than $25.
Materials used
Tools
There are a lot of pictures under the cut, but they're small.
As always, click on the photos for bigger versions. If anybody has the need to see even larger versions, let me know and I'll get them to you.
I'm going to skip the first few steps -- laying the pattern out on the buckram, tracing it, and sewing it together. I like to think these things are easy enough to visual, and quite boring to most people. To sum it up, I overlapped the marked bits on the pattern and sewed it by hand using a zig-zag shaped stitch and button thread. After that, I trimmed the edges smooth.
After I sewed the buckram together, I sewed the wire along all the edges. I used, believe it or not, electric fencing wire. Why? Because I live on a farm and it was free. I believe most millinery wire is 16 gauge, while the fencing wire was 14. It's non-corrosive and you need a pair of wirecutters (most pliers have some built in) to cut it. It's not that big of a difference, really. As a result, this is an incredible sturdy hat.
To sew the wire down, I used buttonhole twist and a stitch that slants on the back and is vertical on the front. Some people sew the wire to the pieces before you sew them together, which does make it easier to apply the wire using a sewing machine. I probably should have done it that way, but I didn't. That was unsmart, because it was a pain to sew it down with the hat already assembled.
After I had that done, it was time to sew bias binding over the wire. The bias binding softens the line between the hat and the wire, so you don't have a ridge running along the edges. To sew it down, I used a running stitch and sewed both layers of bias tape down at once. I probably could have use any old thread, but for some reason I was dead set on using matching thread . . . on something no one would ever see.
The next step was to sew a padding layer over that, to further smooth the lines. This is something I scavenged out of Tudor Tailor; on the previous buckram hat I made, I didn't use this step. The book suggests you use something called domette, which apparently not available in the United States. So I used the next best thing: very loud cotton flannel. I sewed it down with an overcasting/slanting stitch, pulling the fabric tight as I went. I had to trim it down in a couple places, because the flannel stretched/I cut it sloppily. Didn't bother to sew the seam in the back.
I have to say I'm pleased with the final results. It is in fact very smooth.
The next thing I did was sew the lining in. (I put the lining in before the velvet because I wanted to sew the velvet down to the lining.) I used plain old cotton muslin -- it doesn't slip around and it's cheap. Those are two big pluses. I just used a running stitch just behind the wire. Very simple. To sew it in, I used the same method I did for all the layers -- get it lined up with the opening for the crown, pin it in place, sew it down, line up the layer with the middle of the brim, pin one side in place, sew it down, repeat for the other side.
To sew in the crown piece, I cut a circle slightly larger than the crown, and used a blanket stitch to sew it both to the lining and the buckram.
To make the pattern for the crown, I just traced around it on a piece of buckram after shaping it to fit my head. I used two layers of buckram, sewn together with a blanket stitch, and covered it with one piece of flannel. Sewing it to the crown is where the pliers and thimble came in; sewing through all those layers was challenging.
At this point, the hat was ready to be covered in velvet.
I started by covering the crown. To do so, I took a square of velvet, with little regard to nap, and put it over the crown. I pinned it in place until it was smooth, and then sewed it down with a back stitch, just below the wire. (I took a picture of what this looked like, but apparently deleted it from my camera. It look exactly like the first picture there, but with corners and pins.) Then I trimmed the velvet down to about a quarter inch from the stitching and snipped it so it would lay flat.
Next I prepared the velvet for the top layer. First, I traced the pattern on the wrong side of the velvet. Then I cut it out, eyeballing a seam allowance. After that, I basted the seam close, and snipped down to the seam line around the crown. Then I folded the snipped parts down and basted them in place with contrasting thread. Then I tried to pull it in place on the hat.
Here's where I hit a snag. I forgot to allow for the bulk of the layers on the crown, so the top layer didn't fit the first time I sewed the sim. (I rolled the edge of one tab under and then slipstitched it down.) So I pulled it out and tried again. It fit perfectly this time. I slipstitched the cover to the velvet on the crown.
Next, I folded the seam allowance of the velvet cover under the edge and sewed it to the lining using a slanting stitch. Unfortunately, because I eyeballed the seam allowance, I ended up short on one edge for about an inch, so it's pulled veryvery tight there.
I covered the join between the velvet and the lining with some vintage ribbon a friend gave to me. The color is amazing against the velvet -- let's call it chartreuse. I think it's rayon. It's sewn down with a short-long running stitch (short on top, long on bottom) on the top edge of the ribbon only. I didn't want to submit my hat to steam to get the ribbon to stretch.
At this point, this is what the hat looks like:
It made me feel like a Japanese man of some status.
Next comes trimming. Which I don't actually have any pictures of (the process), so just see my last journal entry.
The quote in the cut is from a letter Jane Austen wrote in 1798. I highly recommend you read the quotes from her letters if you need some amusement. My favorites: "I give you joy of our new nephew, and hope if he ever comes to be hanged it will not be till we are too old to care about it." and "At the bottom of Kingsdown Hill we met a gentleman in a buggy, who, on minute examination, turned out to be Dr. Hall -- and Dr. Hall in such very deep mourning that either his mother, his wife, or himself must be dead."
I am proud to say that there is not a drop of glue on this hat and it is entirely handsewn. Additionally, all materials came out of my stash, but the final cost would probably be less than $25.
Materials used
- heavyweight buckram
- 14 gauge electric fencing wire (in place of millinery wire; less than 2 yds)
- thread (button, regular sewing, and silk)
- fabric (less than a quarter-yard of cotton muslin, flannel, and black velvet)
- double-fold bias binding
- 1/2" wide ribbon
Tools
- darning needle (curved needle recommended)
- pliers
- thimble
- scissors
There are a lot of pictures under the cut, but they're small.
As always, click on the photos for bigger versions. If anybody has the need to see even larger versions, let me know and I'll get them to you.
I'm going to skip the first few steps -- laying the pattern out on the buckram, tracing it, and sewing it together. I like to think these things are easy enough to visual, and quite boring to most people. To sum it up, I overlapped the marked bits on the pattern and sewed it by hand using a zig-zag shaped stitch and button thread. After that, I trimmed the edges smooth.
After I sewed the buckram together, I sewed the wire along all the edges. I used, believe it or not, electric fencing wire. Why? Because I live on a farm and it was free. I believe most millinery wire is 16 gauge, while the fencing wire was 14. It's non-corrosive and you need a pair of wirecutters (most pliers have some built in) to cut it. It's not that big of a difference, really. As a result, this is an incredible sturdy hat.
To sew the wire down, I used buttonhole twist and a stitch that slants on the back and is vertical on the front. Some people sew the wire to the pieces before you sew them together, which does make it easier to apply the wire using a sewing machine. I probably should have done it that way, but I didn't. That was unsmart, because it was a pain to sew it down with the hat already assembled.
After I had that done, it was time to sew bias binding over the wire. The bias binding softens the line between the hat and the wire, so you don't have a ridge running along the edges. To sew it down, I used a running stitch and sewed both layers of bias tape down at once. I probably could have use any old thread, but for some reason I was dead set on using matching thread . . . on something no one would ever see.
The next step was to sew a padding layer over that, to further smooth the lines. This is something I scavenged out of Tudor Tailor; on the previous buckram hat I made, I didn't use this step. The book suggests you use something called domette, which apparently not available in the United States. So I used the next best thing: very loud cotton flannel. I sewed it down with an overcasting/slanting stitch, pulling the fabric tight as I went. I had to trim it down in a couple places, because the flannel stretched/I cut it sloppily. Didn't bother to sew the seam in the back.
I have to say I'm pleased with the final results. It is in fact very smooth.
The next thing I did was sew the lining in. (I put the lining in before the velvet because I wanted to sew the velvet down to the lining.) I used plain old cotton muslin -- it doesn't slip around and it's cheap. Those are two big pluses. I just used a running stitch just behind the wire. Very simple. To sew it in, I used the same method I did for all the layers -- get it lined up with the opening for the crown, pin it in place, sew it down, line up the layer with the middle of the brim, pin one side in place, sew it down, repeat for the other side.
To sew in the crown piece, I cut a circle slightly larger than the crown, and used a blanket stitch to sew it both to the lining and the buckram.
To make the pattern for the crown, I just traced around it on a piece of buckram after shaping it to fit my head. I used two layers of buckram, sewn together with a blanket stitch, and covered it with one piece of flannel. Sewing it to the crown is where the pliers and thimble came in; sewing through all those layers was challenging.
At this point, the hat was ready to be covered in velvet.
I started by covering the crown. To do so, I took a square of velvet, with little regard to nap, and put it over the crown. I pinned it in place until it was smooth, and then sewed it down with a back stitch, just below the wire. (I took a picture of what this looked like, but apparently deleted it from my camera. It look exactly like the first picture there, but with corners and pins.) Then I trimmed the velvet down to about a quarter inch from the stitching and snipped it so it would lay flat.
Next I prepared the velvet for the top layer. First, I traced the pattern on the wrong side of the velvet. Then I cut it out, eyeballing a seam allowance. After that, I basted the seam close, and snipped down to the seam line around the crown. Then I folded the snipped parts down and basted them in place with contrasting thread. Then I tried to pull it in place on the hat.
Here's where I hit a snag. I forgot to allow for the bulk of the layers on the crown, so the top layer didn't fit the first time I sewed the sim. (I rolled the edge of one tab under and then slipstitched it down.) So I pulled it out and tried again. It fit perfectly this time. I slipstitched the cover to the velvet on the crown.
Next, I folded the seam allowance of the velvet cover under the edge and sewed it to the lining using a slanting stitch. Unfortunately, because I eyeballed the seam allowance, I ended up short on one edge for about an inch, so it's pulled veryvery tight there.
I covered the join between the velvet and the lining with some vintage ribbon a friend gave to me. The color is amazing against the velvet -- let's call it chartreuse. I think it's rayon. It's sewn down with a short-long running stitch (short on top, long on bottom) on the top edge of the ribbon only. I didn't want to submit my hat to steam to get the ribbon to stretch.
At this point, this is what the hat looks like:
It made me feel like a Japanese man of some status.
Next comes trimming. Which I don't actually have any pictures of (the process), so just see my last journal entry.
The quote in the cut is from a letter Jane Austen wrote in 1798. I highly recommend you read the quotes from her letters if you need some amusement. My favorites: "I give you joy of our new nephew, and hope if he ever comes to be hanged it will not be till we are too old to care about it." and "At the bottom of Kingsdown Hill we met a gentleman in a buggy, who, on minute examination, turned out to be Dr. Hall -- and Dr. Hall in such very deep mourning that either his mother, his wife, or himself must be dead."