The workshop
This past weekend, the kids and I trooped over to my mother’s and made hats.
For the Hallowe’en costumes. You remember.
Little, teeny, steampunky tophats.
Little hat
I used this pattern as the starting point, and then kind of hung a left. It turned out it called for all kinds of esoteric stuff like fusible fleece and craft foam. OK, I did have craft foam, and I actually was looking at the fusible fleece in Fabricland the other day and then decided not to buy any (on account of not having looked up the pattern yet so I didn’t know they were going to call for fusible fleece). And the craft foam I picked up at the dollar store was stupid thin and nearly useless. So we mostly used Bristol board and, well, it’s not exactly sew-able. And I kind of forgot to trim off most of the seam allowances, so our hats ended up a little larger than otherwise. And they probably took longer to make, since I was hand-covering and hand-stitching all the fabric that holds them together. And then sewing on trims and feathers and bits and bobs, and then painting. Actually, there were several iterations of sewing/painting/sewing/painting. I thank my ever-generous mother for her contributions to the trim, and for willingly sacrificing artifical flowers and berries that are probably older than I am to The Muse. I quite enjoyed the painting (it’s been ages since I dry-brushed anything), though of course as soon as we were doing it I wished I had five other colours.
Closeup
All I need to do now is sew on the clips which will (in theory) attach them to the hair of various children come Hallowe’en. Oh, and keep the damn things from getting shredded between now and then.
(Oh, and yes, there are two hats, but I only remembered to photograph one while at my mom’s.
Next up… goggles!
Tanit-Isis Sews 
Those turned out so freaking awesome!! Or at least the one you pictured did, I’m sure the other one is equally awesome. 🙂 You have such lucky daughters. 🙂
Let’s just say they had better appreciate it… 😉
OMGWOW!!!!! They look fantastic!!!
love it. I tried to do goggles a few years ago and it turned into a unholy mess. I look forward to seeing what you do, as I imagine you have a plan .. (I will say starting with ski goggles is a bad bad idea)
Well, we’ll see. I confess most of the tutes use a bit more industrial equipment than I’m really prepared to pull out.
Tiny Hats = Awesome
Awesome!!
Cooooool!
Oh how cute is that. The end result may be different from what your initial plan, but I think it’s an awfully good place to be. The girls must be delighted.
Tiny = awesomer than regular size. Love the look with all the trims and such! And yes, dry brushing is lots of fun!
Aw, it’s pretty! These costumes are going to be so awesome, I can’t wait to see them!
I l.o.v.e. these hats!
Oh wait just a damn minute, THIS is what your Halloween sewing consists of?! THIS IS SO FREAKING COOL. I take my tweet back. You keep sewing, prisoner.
LMAO!!!
Yes, this, and a tailcoat, and leather shorts with lacing at the sides (WTF? What crack was I smoking when I said they could wear shorts?)
Yes, especially since it has been snowing here the last two days!
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome awesome awesome.
You could always just face-paint goggles — not as effective, sure, but easier to see out of and faster to construct.
That’s a thought! Although, the way our weather has been going, the more face-protection, the better…