Watch as this traditional felt Top Hat is meticulously handcrafted the old fashioned way
@TheFigen_ #globalmuseum #hats #costume #hatmaking #crafts

A Study in: Sun Visor Hat

It is summer and we have a heatwave, so i remembered that i had a very old, unfinished project laying around. An attempt at making a Sun Visor hat. I thought i already made the whole pattern, but there was only one pattern piece i could find.

I started with two old Sun Visor from my mother, who weren´t really wearable anymore. I ripped everything apart and saved the plastic visor pieces. I made a pattern piece from the visor and the headband + seam allowances on cardboard. Marked the center on everything ( i forgot to mark the ending of the visor on the headband, but i figured it out in the end).

For the first Sun Visor I cut out everything twice from an lightweight but firm cotton fabric and pressed some interfacing onto it. I marked all seam allowances onto the wrong side of the pieces with pencil ( while sewing it, this was a blessing!)

Then I started with the visor, sewing the outer edge, cutting it back and clipping it in, turning it inside out and ironing it nicely. When I pushed the visor piece in, I noticed that one side had slightly less seam allowance than the other, although I always sewed evenly. It was still no problem.

I then closed the visor part with a large stitch. It would have been smarter to sew with a zipper foot, but I managed it that way too.

For the headband part, and I had to check this several times, the inwardly curved edge is the „outer edge“ and the outwardly curved edge is the edge that is sewn to the visor. In other words, I closed the outer edge, cut the seam allowance back and clipped it in, turned the piece inside out and ironed it. At the same time, I pressed the narrow edges over.

And this was the point, at which I asked myself whether it made sense to sew the elastic on now or later, i.e. after I had sewn the headband to the visor. I was worried that the whole thing would be too fiddly. So I decided against it. (I tried it the other way at the second one.)

Thanks to the markings, it was easy to sew the headband part to the visor part…with a zipper foot. But I had to start in the middle and sew to the end of the visor piece.

I then pressed down all seam allowances, so it would be easier to sew them down.

I didn’t take any photos of how I inserted the batting, but it is inside of the headband piece. I will probably topstitch through the middle of the headband again, because I’m sure it was sewn in at the bottom, but not necessarily at the top. I should have pinned it first.

Sewing it on, or rather topstitching it, was quite tricky, you can topstitch over the visor piece if necessary (I tried that too), but the foot likes to slip off it and makes the whole thing a bit of a mess.

You could also hide the elastic in a fabric tunnel. As it is, it fits very well, but what bothers me are the transitions between the headband part and the elastic band. It didn’t turn out quite so nicely as there is a gap to the outer edge.

The second vesion was made similiar, but this time with a tunnel at the back for the elastic band and a different thicker fabric.

My first mistake was, that I measured wrongly and the tunnel + elastic was too wide. So i had to rip everything open and cut it smaller ( you can do that with an elastic if you serge/overlock the edges).

Then I changed the sequence of steps and, as already mentioned above, sewed the tunnel to the headband part earlier. What a fiddly job! And unfortunately the fabric was a bit too thick, so the transitions didn’t turn out nice either.

I think if you cut the tunnel onto the headband piece instead of making it a separate piece, it will be much nicer.

But the first version remains the easiest.

It is a great way to use up some leftover fabrics, because you don´t really need that much. If anyone wants the pattern just ask, i can try to scan it in. You can also buy the visor plastic blanks, i´ve seen it somewhere online recently. But there are two sizes, i think my pattern is for the narrower one.

Thank you for reading, till next time!

#craft #crafts #Hat #hatmaking #Hats #sewing #sunVisor

And i made another one. This time with a tunnel out of the fabric to hide the elastic.

#sewing #hat #hatmaking #craft #crafts
#sunvisor

Ripped appart an old sun visor and made a pattern from it. Easier than i thought.

#sewing
#craft #crafts #hatmaking #sunvisor

Over the last two weeks I have been hand patterning a new casual work cap for myself and after many, many iterations I have a good block. I've been sharing the process with my Patreon members: https://www.patreon.com/posts/capping-off-cap-128011093?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
#PatternMaking #Hatmaking #Sewing

Decided to dust off my manual pattern drafting skills to create a new daily-driver hat. Good thing it's only a hat. If I was patterning a jacket I would have needed to clean off the table first.

#patterndrafting #sewing #hatmaking

This dress has some history. I’ll tell the full story slowly here. For now, it’s two most recent appearances- National Women’s show #ottawa in 2021 ( #stillMasking), and the last Halloween party we attended in 2019 as a ghost bride.
#steampunk #oldWest #pastel #laceAndSatin #millinery #TAVCreations #ottawaDesigner #bridal #themeWedding #halloweenCostume #teamcouture #sewing #hatmaking #bespoke

Lady Trying on a Hat or The Black Hat (1904) by Frank Weston Benson (American artist, lived 1862-1951). Apparently this painting was not meant to be about the sitter, but the furnishings of a lady's boudoir - colonial American furniture, Asian chest and vases, bright pink shawl. Mostly all I see is that amazing hat!

#Edwardian #edwardianart #edwardianera #fineart #hatmaking #millinery

What Do Shtreimels and Cowboy Hats Have in Common? https://hyperallergic.com/809685/what-do-shtreimels-and-cowboy-hats-have-in-common-milliner-richard-faison/ #millinery #hatmaking (via @hyperallergic)

A chance encounter on the subway introduced photographer Francesca Magnani to the multicultural world of Brooklyn milliner Richard Faison.

#Art #Fashion #Design #Hatmaking #Millinery

https://hyperallergic.com/809685/what-do-shtreimels-and-cowboy-hats-have-in-common-milliner-richard-faison/

I dream of hats. Or more accurately do not sleep and instead think of hats.

I've made a couple and fixed up several, sans any training or much actual knowledge. It is amusing to me that I, a professional photographer, don't have many decent photos of them either 😄​

#hats #millinery #HatMaking