1910s Suit-A-Long - The Hat

I've been so excited to start the 1910s Suit-A-Long with Lauren at Wearing History!  In the last Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge I made a 1910s corset and am currently sewing the camisole, bloomers, and petticoat.  I have a wonderful blue/green/ivory patterned fabric for the skirt, a very light ivory linen for the jacket,  and then I found this amazing lace in the remnant bin at Mary Jo's Cloth Store. 

These beautiful green flowers are left over from another project but the blue curled feathers and hatband are vintage and a perfect match for the suit.



For some unknown-to-me reason I woke up the other day with this crazy fear that the hat was not going to turn out well.  And without the hat the entire suit couldn't be worn to Costume College.  While I've made hats from both buckram and wire, I've never made a lace hat and I've never made a hat with a hat block.  Maybe that was the basis for my concern, but whatever it was I decided that to put all that to rest I best set everything else aside and make this hat.

The pattern is by Lynn McMasters and has many amazing options.  I've used her patterns before and they fit together beautifully.  This pattern has so many wonderful options for buckram, wire, and a combination of both.

I'm using the pink/black option on the pattern cover which is a combination of buckram crown and wire brim.  The first thing I have to do is create a curved crown tip with a hat block.  Lynn McMasters has information in the pattern on where to purchase a hat block and exactly what to purchase or how to use a shape you may already have from a bowl or other item.  The directions are perfect in how to form the buckram crown tip and how to cut it to fit the sideband.  This is the hat block with a gently curved top and covered with plastic to protect it while the buckram dries to the shape.

Using a 2-ply buckram, the layers have to be separated while wet and set on the form at angles to each other and then pinned to dry.

The next photo shows the cutting line that is created using a reverse cardboard template made from the crown tip pattern.  The instructions are in the pattern.

The directions are also perfect to instruct how to attach the tip to the sideband, attach the millinery wire to the sideband, attach the bias strip or French elastic, and then how to cover the entire crown with mull/flannel.

I had enough ivory flannel for the crown tip but had to switch to white flannel on the sideband.

Since my lace is slightly different than what the pattern calls for I had to alter the directions slightly.  I cut my millinery wire, connected the ends with a wire joiner, and then sprayed it with fabric spray paint so that it would blend in with my color.





I have a base lace for the brim and then an edge trim of braid and lace with small pearls woven through.

Both lace and trim are handstitched over the wire.  The sideband and crown tip lace have an ivory linen lining and the two layers are basted together and then treated as a single layer.

From this point I constructed my hat similar to other hats.  The crown tip lace/lining is attached first, the sideband lace/lining next.  The brim has an opening cut and is attached to the inside of the crown with stitching through the crown the same way you would attach a buckram brim.  I was so fortunate to find a beautiful organza ribbon with ivory stitched edges and with my flowers and feathers I love the light feel of this hat!  And here is my finished hat!  Please click on any image to see a larger version.

Now back to sewing the suit!

Love always,

Jeanette