Well, it’s been a while, but I am finally getting back to the hats. This bright orange beauty is now in my Etsy shop, I just need to find a box the right size for shipping this new style.
A couple of months ago I made the difficult decision to sell two of my cloche blocks to another milliner, and to put the money towards two new things – a set of shoe lasts (currently AWOL in transit between here and Portugal, argh), and a mini top hat block. To decide whether mini top hats were definitely going to be the way forward, I made an impromptu block out of an old biscuit tin, and ended up with this:
As you can see, the shape is a bit short and wide for a top hat, and I did have some issues to do with not using a proper block (note: cardboard, however thick, is not a great surface for millinery!), so this one won’t be for sale. However, I was really happy with the idea, and with the felt-and-Swarovski crystal embellishments.
Convinced that the idea would work, I went ahead and ordered the block below. The crown (the top part) measures about 11cm tall, and the brim is about 17cm across with the edges curled upwards. I’m not totally convinced by the outward flare at the bottom of the crown, but the five-part blocks necessary for a beautifully curved top hat shape were beyond my budget, so this one it had to be.
(To make a curved top hat shape, you need a block that’s designed to come apart inside the finished hat. Otherwise you can’t get the wide top of the crown out past the narrow bit in the middle! And of course, the engineering involved to make those costs money that I don’t have right now. One day, though. One day.)
The style feels a little more Guy-Fawkes-goes-Steampunk than I’d intended, but I really like the size and the proportions of the resulting hat. I haven’t trimmed this red one yet, because I don’t have any item in my sewing room that’s either a matching shade of red, or a good contrasting colour. I don’t know how that’s possible, but it seems to be true!
This orange one’s trimmed with remnants of a lovely bouclé tweed, so it’s absolutely one of a kind – I don’t have enough of this fabric left to make another. Which is a shame really, as it would have looked great trimming a navy hat, or a bright pink one! I will put up a made-to-order version on Etsy though, as I really fancy making some of these trimmed with a nice bit of proper Harris Tweed.
Any takers?