A Year in the Making, Day 36

I know yesterday I said that today I'd be starting the corset to go with the stripey outfit. But after I posted the outfit to the steamfashion community, it was quite rightly pointed out now that I've dressed things up with the jacket that the hat I'd originally made for it didn't quite fit anymore. I needed one of the huge, over the top whimsies which were common in that era.

I started out with this rather frou-frou piece, that I got for a steal at a discount store some time ago, because the stitching attaching the crown to the brim was coming undone.



Four snips with a scissor and a minute with needle and thread and it was ready to go. It's made from sisal fiber, and has a good stiffness to it.

Next, a hatband and trim for the brim, to coordinate with the suit:





Lots of ironing (with steam!) was involved in this step, my least favorite.

This fabric was hand-sewn onto the hat:



Now, on to the decorating! The raw materials:







Two sticks in the hot glue gun, one second-degree burn on the left middle finger (hey, I can flip people off all day tomorrow now! "See what I did last night!"), and here is the result:





For aesthetic balance, I'm thinking I should add a third bird, but for the keeping it on my head without using hot glue factor, I'm thinking not. We'll see.

So not tomorrow, because I have an evening engagement, but the night after, I'll start work on the corset to complete the outfit.