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. :)

Combining for the bling

I almost named this post "Cool shots of recent random pretty thingies that make me more than a little impressed with the camera capabilities on my cell phone"

BUT

A. That had the air of that Vogon poetry classic:  "Ode to a lump of putty I found in my armpit one midsummer morning."

B. I noticed that all three of these shots had something in common: they were all combinations of elements that I put together to make into far groovier bling. Kinda like, you know, the recipes from the food baskets on Chopped but without any canned yucca root.

Item the first:

Request for trim that has the "general air of ermine" but with red in it:

(Haven't heard the customer's reaction yet - but I LOVE it)

Item the second: I picked up the jewelled round thingies at the Beaver Brand hat auction last month. Wasn't sure what I was going to do with them at the time, but now I know. I sure do LOVE the way it came out. I also love that I have these round thingies in about six colors. :) I just added it to a regular gold filigree stamping, and it looks much broochy-er.*  (Broochier? Broochich? more Broochy?)

* My spell check is going to have a PARTY with that one.)

Item the third: Put three very basic elements together to make this really sweet, curveable hatband:

that needed to coordinate-with-but-not-match THIS trim:

Looks like a win, and the customer was very pleased.
I will get to see that one at the Minnesota Renaissance Faire this Sunday. We'll see if we can get an action shot :)

Incedentally, whose spell check doesn't know the word Bling?
(hint: mine)

Anyway - that's all.

Cavalier Bride hat order

Just got an order for a pretty cool project, and wanted to share it with you.

(no "finished hat" photos in this post - this is just inspiration, concept, colors, and materials - but they are cool :)

My friend Gia did such a great job with the instructions that I wanted to share that, too.

First she sent me the name of the portrait she is using for inspiration for their cavalier themed wedding, so I had an idea of the general look.

Not sharing the link because SOME wedding things should remain a surprise

She said I could blog about the hat, though :)

She also sent me swatches in the mail: a lovely gold damask for the gown and a bunny brown* cotton velvet for the overgown.

*my friend Katherine coined the term "Bunny Brown", and I likes it, so I uses it, but I credits it, too.

The first task was to see what felts I had that would work with her fabrics.

I had nothing that did justice to the gold that had a sizable brim, but was very happy to find two perfect choices to go with the brown velvet.

The dark one is on the left, and the lighter one on the right:

Depending on which way I turned the velvet, the nap read very differently in the light. Above, it is turned so that it looks the darkest. (As I recall from my Alley Theatre costume shop days, we called this 'theatre nap' or, more amusingly "against the kitty.")

Below it is sideways, showing how it matches the dark brown blank in the shadows and the light brown blank in the highlights.

She chose the dark brown fur felt, partially because it boasts an extra-large brim that will be perfect for the style she wants.

Then there were the choices I showed her for the hatband trim: Again - had two good ones:

choice A, which looked lovely with the gold damask and leaned it a little toward olive, which brought some fun feather options into the mix:

 
And choice B, which was true, non-metallic gold in color, and offered great contrast to the dark blank.

She went with A since the green will coordinate with other outfits of hers in the post-wedding days.

 She asked if the curl of the brim could be at a more forward angle, like in this AWESOME inspiration image:

Uhm - Yes. Definitely.

And if the feathers could be more like in this image (not just on one side):

Yes, PLEASE

All of which was so completely helpful for me in knowing exactly what she's looking for. It's going to be one amazing cavalier bridal hat, and I can't wait to start!

New Improved French Hood

I thought I would share some shots of my newest model of a French Hood. It's version number, like 9.4 or something.  Because it's black velveteen and black wool (and I certainly didn't have anything resembling decent lighting) I've had to get artsy with the exposure to show you the shapes of the layers. 

 To be honest, I'm still new enough at photoshop that I kinda dig the artsiness.

The layer shapes are based on the hood on this awesome effigy lady, though it's obviously not an absolute replica with regard to the back half.

And the billiment (gold beady thingy) on mine is based on the one in this portrait:

Here's a slightly askew back view - with my new veil "solution", which is I still need to revise....but at least I know HOW I want to revise it. There are two separate pieces on there right now, a wool one and a velvet one - which I need to make into one single fall.

Cool - This artsy exposure really shows off the awesome stripey fabric I used on my gown sleeves :)

And finally, a side view, showing my shocking barbie pink kirtle. (The veil was accidentally tucked into the back of my loose gown. :S

It still passes muster, in my book.

SO - after wearing it for pretty much two days straight, here's the analysis:

Pros:

• Lightweight
• Comfortable
• Stayed put with NO problems, using only ties under my hair at the back
• I could HEAR!!
• Very flattering
• Based on a number of historical images
• Does not look Costume-ish. 
• Quick and simple enough to make, and make well that I actually might add them to my website.
• Veil solution covers the back of the hair entirely, making it really accessible for people with shorter hair, or who aren't all down with hair braiding/taping, etc.

Cons:

• Still a mishmash of historical images - not based on ONE hood.
• Still have revisions to make to the veil

Hm. I thought there were more cons than that. Awesome. :)

That's all she wrote.

All black flatcap

Here, for my dear customer's vieweing pleasure, and since our emails are simply not sending photos back and forth....

is your very chic, all black hat :)

Prototype of custom hat lining

The sample came for the new custom Trulyhat linings!!

The printing looks so awesome, I'm about to burst. It's SO much clearer than I expected. I need to figure out how to make the tops be all smooth, but I have several ideas about that.

Now - I wonder which hat I'll try it in.....

I'm SO jazzed!

Red Flatcap options

These flashy orders are so much fun.

Here's an awesome red velveteen flatcap, pictured with three different trimming options

 for my lovely customer to peruse.

 (Heloooo lovely customer!)

I've placed these from least pricey to most pricey.

First one has on a simple,band, ready for her to pearl or bling up further as she desires. It's a particulary classy piece of  $10/yd gold guimpe that I picked up at Mokuba in Toronto.

(http://www.blogto.com/design/mokuba)

This trim would add $5 on top of the base custom flatcap price.

Option 2 looks like many portraits I've seen. Would be hard to "bling up" further, but It might be my favorite anyway - cause it looks like the portraits.
This band would be $10 more than the base custom flatcap price, or $20 more with extra floofy feathers - which I think she kinda wanted, so I thought I'd mention it.


Option 3 wears seven metal brooches with cherubs holding small stones in the centers, with beads and glass pearls between them. I wish they were red stones, but they ain't. I wish I had 20 of them to put all the way around, but I don't. Still - it's definitely the flashiest, and is very VERY pretty. (I would not leave the other gold trim underneath this band - too distracting). I also stuck an extra feather on her, since this band NEEDED the extra floof. This one, with the brooches and the extra feather, would be $30 more than the base custom flatcap price.

Closeup of the awesome simple gold trim:


Closeup of beads and glass pearls. Beads are plastic, but they look very nice.

Closeup of the blingy one.

If she were yours - which would YOU prefer? I'm really torn, myself.