Hullo! Still a gloomy, cloudy day for everyone in the country. The rains have not showed up around these parts, but the sky has not cleared up either. Can't remember when I last saw the sun!
Had a lovely meeting yesterday with a client and friend. Doing make-up for her wedding, and making the bridal hat! Yey for wonderful clients! Not to mention, the wedding promises to be a sight to behold with the theme being vintage western. Yes, the men will be wearing Wyatt Earp-esque outfits! I have about a month to work on the hat.
Worked with batting first as it's easy to work with and I can pin it into shape. That way I will know if it's THE HAT or not without breaking much sweat haha.
Thought I'd share with you some tools I love to use. There will be many Work in progress posts in this blog, so might as well make it worth your dropping by.
Being in the Philippines, it is quite hard to find craft/sewing tools. One example would be the Clover 5-in-1 Sliding Gauge with Nancy Zieman which I had to get thru Ebay. Ever since I invested in this, I cannot imagine sewing without it! :-) Seam allowances were always a problem for me, and everytime I sew, I am secretly praying I am following the right seam allowance so as not to mess up the pattern. Thank you for tools like these, accuracy is in the horizon for me.
Why is it a 5-in-1 gauge? Because you can use it for: 1. Spacing & Marking Buttonholes 2. Seam Allowance Gauge 3. Hem Gauge 4. Circle Compass 5. T Gauge
Another indespensable tool for sure are fabric scissors :-) I am always on the lookout for a Holy Grail of fabric scissors haha. I have a small hand with short, stubby fingers (eeeww!! not a pretty visual hahha) and I have a hard time finding a comfortable grip when cutting.
Sharpness is also very important, specially when you have to cut thru thick fabric. What I really need is a rotary cutter, but I am still saving up for a good one. In the meantime, I found this golden beauty in the local Gaisano department store, and it gets the job done :-)
There you go :-) So far, I ended up with this shape:
The crown is too high for the design the bride wanted. The final will about half that height. The brim is fine. After making my adjustments, I will trace the individual pieces unto paper and make my final pattern with seam allowances (using the tool ofcourse!).
Was planning on making a buckram frame for this, except there is one problem: where does one get buckram in the Philippines?! haha. I have about a month to finish this so ordering some online is an option, but I want a more accessible material to use. I have something in mind that might work ...worth a try :-) I will post that experiment here when it happens haha.
The last headpiece I made was for a bridal show. See the photo here on Flickr. Now that one is not a hat at all.. more like a bejeweled Helmet hahaha. But ofcourse, it was perfect with the dress and bouquet. Silly fun ♥.
Peace. Love. Dream. Make a Hat.
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