The Finishing Touch

Some projects get so involved that they never seem to end!  I was working away on my latest Britex project, but something was missing.  After cutting out my dress (more on that to come), there was a bit of yardage left – not enough to make much of anything . . . except a hat!  Perfect!

I do not have a pillbox hat pattern, but with a few quick google searches I found enough inspiration to get started.

A search through the hat patterns that I did have brought me to Butterick 4697 - no drafting necessary!

I have some very thick fusible interfacing that I assume is meant for craft projects.  It turns out to be a great substitute for buckram (which is still hiding somewhere in the sewing room).  Pinning the stuff was not very fun, so I traced the pattern pieces in chalk.

So many online directions and tutorials suggest using glue to construct hats - I just cannot get past the idea of using glue on fabric.  I am sure there are situations where there is no other option, but I plan on avoiding them as long as I possibly can.  

My chenille fabric has quite a bit of drape, so I block fused my hat pieces.

The next step was to cut and stitch a duplicate in lining fabric.

I ended up hand stitching sections of the lining to the crown to keep it from drooping.

And to finish the raw edges, I used a bias strip with the "wrong" side of my chenille fabric facing outward.

The last thing to do was add a makeshift bow similar to my vintage pattern inspiration, and a couple of combs.  And it's off to the photo shoot we go!