Attempts in victorian hatting

There is one fashion problem especially in Victorian liveroleplays: a lady would never leave the house without a hat. And with your outfits improving you will want more sophisticated headdresses, matching your dresses, instead of one decorated straw hat for all purposes. I have so far tried four different patterns.

Of course I started with the most difficult one: a top-hat. The shape was entirely modelled on a mould. The inner layer consists of stiff interface joined with paper glue as it remains flexible when dry and doesn't smell. It's not the best solution, though, as it takes long to bind with the fabric. The cover was made from brocade matching the dress, sewn and then glued and stitched over the basic shape. I prefer a combination of glueing and sewing to just hot-glueing everything. It allows for much finer work and looks better. I'm a nerd when it comes to details...

The second type of hat I tried was a nice little hat to sit over the forehead so you can wear your hair taken up at the back - which usually gives you trouble fitting a hat on top. This has become my favourite shape now, as it can be decorated and modified to fit the dress: wider brim, higher top, folded up like a tricorn, loaded with flowers, plain with ruffles, anything goes. When using the pattern, keep in mind to add about a centimetre seam allowance at the inner side of the brim and at the top of the crown when you cut your material for the basic shape, and to add seam allowance to all adges when cutting the outer fabric. For the outer fabric, crown and top are cut once from fabric matching the dress and once from thin, matching fabric for the lining. Glue the brim to the crown, close it at the back, then glue on the top and cut off excess material (it never fits perfectly). The brim is cut twice from dress fabric and joined at the outer seam. Top and crown piece are joined, both go over your basic hat and are glued in place, then joined along the crown where the hatband will cover the seam. The lining is glued in in some places and joined with the outer fabric. Add hatband, decoration and a few small loops for hairpins, or just use a hatpin to keep your dainty little headdress in place.

Here are the example pictures of my blue velvet hat.

Only the inlay is glued, the fabric is sewn, in many places by hand. I usually use buckram or cardboard. Do abstain from using hot-glue anywhere on your hat, even for the decoration - you will never be able to change anything or correct mistakes. These days, hot-glue is used for almost everything instead of using the proper methods. I used book glue (which remains flexible when dry) to join the fabric layer and the cardboard and shaped the brim by letting it dry pinned up.

 

The lining was finished by hand.

The three sides had their shape already by glueing the fabric in, but after attaching the hatband and the decoration, they were fixed to the crown with a few stitches.

 The plume easily gets its shape from an ordinary curling iron. First, get the quill in shape to sit nicely on the hat, then curl the ends.

This is the finished specimen: A tricorn, covered in blue velvet (same fabric as the dress), lined with blue art silk and decorated with a shaped plume and some golden flower-berry-thingy.

The third and fourth pattern are the easiest ones, they're almost flat and are basically just a platform for your decoration - ruffles, lace, flowers, bows, and plenty of them. Cut the shape from cardboard or any other stiff material and overlap the slit about a centimetre or two to get a 3D-shape. Cut your fabric a bit bigger than the basic shape plus seam allowance, join it with the lining (which should be smaller than the basic shape) but leave a slit big enough to slip in your hat. Glue in some places (through the slit) so your fabric follows the shape of the hat-base. You can also help with a few stitches in places that will afterwards be covered by the decoration. Close the slit and decorate. Also here, either use a hatpin or sew two or three small loops for hairpins.

Pattern to come...