Inside the Studio-Mini Pill Box Hats

A lot goes into a handmade hat and a lot of it ends up invisible in the finished hat. In the picture above, the skeletons of three mini pillbox hats wait for me to cover them. When they are finished, they will look like the hat I made for Julia’s wedding.

These frames are each made from two pieces of buckram: one for the sides and one for the top. The bottom edge has been wired so that the hats retain their round shape. These three frames are almost ready to be covered. First, I will sew bias strips over the wires and over the tabs that hold the top of the hat to the sides of the hat. This way the frame will be smooth before I cover it with fabric. Once covered with fabric I will decorate with flowers, feathers, netting, and whatever other decoration the hat calls out for. Each hat is different, but underneath they look the same.

Wishlist Wednesday- Summer outfit

Etsy has developed a new tool to help me find new things to drool over: the suggested shops. A computerized algorithm looks at shops and items that I have previously added to my favorites and shows me shops that people like me have hearted before. The algorithm needs some work to more fairly represent etsy shops, but I have already found some things to add to my hearts.

Like this wonderful green batik shirt from batikwalla:

And this whimsical pixie skirt from ElvenForestCreations:

I think they would be a great combo for traipsing around in summer fields.

The blushing bride

When my friend Julia of ManicSpider Art and Photography first showed me pictures of her wedding dress, I begged to be allowed to design a hat to go with it. A dramatic off the shoulder number in black and red, the gown screamed “funky elegant cocktail hat” at me. And fortunately Julia, being a rather funky and elegant lady herself, honored me by allowing me to design her bridal hat.

Here she is on her special day:

I love doing custom work for people’s weddings. I know how much thought people put into all the details of their wedding, and to be trusted with an element of that design is a great honor.

In other news, I apologize for my long silence. I have been in the process of moving to Boston for several months now–looking for jobs, apartment hunting, packing, etc. I am finally settled in and have re-opened ElephunksTrunk. I plan to be a regular presence in the blogosphere from now on!