This was a fun and quick upcycle to create a 1920's style cloche like the ones that Miss Fisher wears in the series, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.  While not totally period correct, the style similar to some of the hats Phryne wears on the show, designed by Australian Milliner, Mandy Murphy.

I started with a wide brimmed wool blue wool hat with a faux leather band on the outside and a gross grain ribbon finish on the inside. The brand was Favorette and I purchased it from Maria Chenut at The Alameda Antiques Faire, early this year.  You can read more about my trip to the Antique fair and see photos of the original hat in my post here.

Here are the steps I took to change the hat -

1.  I removed the inside band with a seam ripper.  The hat was a tad bit small on my head, plus It did not fit smoothly on my crown when I pulled it down low.  The hats of the 1920's sat very low on the crown of the head and very close to the head, often covering the ears and resting on the nape of the neck.
2.  I trimmed the brim to have the shape you see in the photos. It's short in the front and the back, but gets wider at the sides.  You can see more examples of this style and other "Cloche"  my Pinterest Board here.
3.  Next I pulled the hat onto a 23" vintage wood head form (Thanks for letting me borrow this mom!) and pinned in place.  I steamed the hat and let it dry in place overnight.
4. Now it was time to unpin and release the hat from the form, which I did and it fit wonderfully.

• To decorate, I made a quick arrangement, by pinning in place several velvet leaves, sequined appliques and misc. parrot feathers. I think the bright green of the feathers makes a nice contrast. What do you think?

• The Hat needed a velvet ribbon, so I stitched that in place with the seam on the side where it will be covered with the decorations. I tacked it to the hat along the bottom edge in several spots (as invisibly as possible) so that it would not move around.
• Next, I hand stitched the velvet leaf sprays and feathers in place to both the velvet hat band and also to the hat in several spots for both security and also so that they say in the position that I want them to stay in. The beaded appliques were then tacked on top to cover up the stems and unattractive bits.

Here you can see the finished hat in action.  The green in the necklace & feathers contrast nicely with the blue.  The hat only took a few hours to complete, start to finish. 

All Trims were purchased at the Alameda Antique Faire from Jennifer Osner, but you can visit her Etsy shops at the following links.  She has an amazing selection of antique trims, lace and ephemera.

 ToLaceWithLove    TextileArtLace   

You can find wooden hat forms on Etsy .  Here are a few I found for sale -

Until Next Time, Happy Sewing!

Jennifer