Pleated hat, the first

Sometimes it's easier to just blog about the questions rather than email them.

My customer, (let's call him Joe)  Has a really gorgeous suit, for which he wanted a new hat. After looking for more of the trim he used on the suite, and finding nothing, he sent me the hatband from off the old hat.

This is some gorgeous trim, folks.

However, the piece is a teensy bit too short, and had a stain on it that I couldn't get out. :(

He also sent me some in-CREDible looking gold braid, which matches the golds in the trim really beautifully. I had a piece of chenill-y braid that had the exact base color in it that was needed, but had a navy blue stripe running through it. (Which did NOT work.)

I seamed the trim down the middle,and put the gold braid over the seam, eliminating the navy from the playing field. Here's a closeup of the result:

here's a non-close up of the result, adjacent to the old hatband for color comparison.

We'll see if our Joe likes it or not.

Now. Feathers.

I also have a single, bluish feather, which is only a little bit more "live" than the trim, especially at the tip, which is all I plan to show of it.

Here's a funky sideways shot of the hat, with the suggested trim pinned on, with the feathers propped on, to show how much of the bluish feather shows.

Similarly funky angled shot of feathers without the suggested bluish one.

This is a fun project with some really pretty options.
(It's also the first pleated hat for a customer, and I'm LOVING it, and it won't be the last. So far - no changes needed to the process or materials!)

I also want Joe to take me to where he shops....since it clearly has some fan-tabulous options.
If the chenille band is a no-go - I have other suggestions. :)