gallery
notes
pattern:
Lynn McMaster's Tall Georgian Hat
fabric & notions:
single buckram, millinery wire, upholstery velvet, silk taffeta
general notes:
The hat is based on several examples I found in my files, dating from c1786-1790. It's similar to an Elizabethan Tall hat or a Restoration Cavalier hat.
It seems to be worn mostly with traveling, redingotes or riding habits. I found a couple of examples with structured frocks & jackets, although in fairness some of those might really be the strangely proportioned hats so popular in the late 1780s-1790s that I call a "stovepipe hat". Whatever, I like it for my Ice Cream Jacket. So there. :P
I used Lynn McMaster's Tall Georgian Hat pattern for this hat. I used the arched brim option, adding 2¼" to the circumference of the brim. Overall I really liked the pattern, it went together smoothly. The pattern runs large though, even taking into account BIG hair and wanting a large scale hat. So glad I made a cardboard mock-up first! I ended up making the medium size and adding a drawstring lining so I could adjust the sizing.
The fabrics I used were a green velvet (leftovers from my Rohan dress) and pale chartreuse silk taffeta (leftovers from the IC Jacket). They go together in that really awesome, match-but-not-match way I love so much - yay!
construction:
I used two layers of single buckram for the base. The crown tip and brim have the two layers zig-zagged together while the crown has stitch-witchery binding the layers. I also used quite a bit of millinery wire in this hat, since it is so oversized and I wanted a certain amount of control to shape it just so. It's also a bit of an experiment to see just how much millenary wire is needed in a large hat and how much is too much - this seemed like a good hat for experimenting on. So there is wire around the crown tip and 4 rows on the brim. I used all 18 gauge wire on this hat.
The top of the hat partially covered. I used temporary basting spray to position and smooth out the velvet onto the buckram (didn't bother with mull since it was velvet), then stitched it in place with silk thread. The brim edge I decided to be meticulous on and used a small buttonhole stitch to make it super sturdy and to finish the edge a bit.
My next step was to finish covering the top. For the crown side I again used temporary basting spray to position and smooth out the velvet. I only used the spray in the center of the piece though, not going up to the edges so I could more easy turn them under and stitch.
I then turned my attention to the under brim. I ripped two 6.5" strips of silk taffeta off the bolt. I lined up the ends and cut a little wedge then stitched it up to make a tube. After I ran multiple gathering stitches I began to line it up and gather the outside brim edge. Once I was happy with it, I stitched it down with a large whip stitch.
The inside brim edge was more of a challenge (hence no pics) as I didn't sew the gathering stitch were the edge actually was. Um opps! I beat it into submission eventually though and stitched it down as best I could, hiding the stitches underneath the crown side as much as possible. I then pinned my velvet bias binding (a scant 1.25" wide) to the outside brim and stitched it on by machine.
The bias binding was then turned under and hand-stitched down on the other side. The last step was to add a little drawstring lining to the inside crown so I can adjust the fit to whatever I'm doing with my hair. Voila - a finished hat!
To say I'm happy with the results would be quite the understatement - I love this hat!
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