Tuesday, June 16, 2009

"Indoor Gardening" and Sun Protection



Last Sunday was a bright, shiny day and Marble Man and I went driving in our favorite toy. It was soon obvious that if I'm going to spend any amount of time on the road, I need something to shade myself or I'll be a crispy critter by Summer's end. Especially with an upcoming 10 hour road trip planned to the Jersey Shore.
~
My studio is filled with supplies gathered for Projects Past: pretty fabrics that caught my fancy, ribbons and trims, and hats. Hats... PERFECT!



I dimly remembered a straw hat with grommets and a scarf tie somewhere in the closet depths. I dug around and found it: a hideous $3.88 Walmart purchase. Seriously. It put the "Ugh!" in ugly with rough raw edges and a cheap poly/cotton tie - a plain Jane thing just crying out for prettying up. Which, of course, was why I bought it all those years ago...



My favorite books for hats and ribbon embellishments...


~
First step: make a scarf from some pretty polyester fabric I'd bought years ago. I plan to make a blouse from the bulk of this, but felt I could spare a quarter yard for the Great Hat Rescue Project.


I'd originally planned to use one of my shibori silk scarves, but all the sun exposure this hat's going to get will rot the silk. Which would be a real shame. This stash fabric I have is a polyester chiffon with a sheer and silky quality - a worthy "Plan B".
~
But now, what to do about that rough and scratchy brim? I gathered up some peach colored vintage wired ribbon - just pull on the fine copper wires to make the gathers. I pinned it around the hat brim to enclose that rough edge and stitched it down. In another box, I found some soutache passementerie braiding in the same pink as the fabric background. I machine-stitched the soutache over the ribbon to cover the messy looking gathered edge. Beautiful! And, "ahhhhh" - no more scratches and getting caught on my clothing or seat belt.



The final touch was to stitch on the ribbon flowers and leaves by hand. I stitched them down pretty flat so they won't come off while I'm wearing it. The little car demands we drive like a bat out of Hell, and I don't want to feel the flowers pinging off my hat as we go!



I'm generally not a big fan of hats that tie under the chin, but I think I'll be a happy girl while wearing this new-and-improved chapeau:


"And a-wayyyy we go...!"

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

and shibori ribbon would add a lovely touch!!
summer hat season ahead-

Unknown said...

Wow, that is GORGEOUS!

Snap said...

Kate,

The hat is gorgeous and I can just imagine you wearing it as you travel like a "bat out of hell"! ;D How nice you had the books and fabric handy. Is there something you don't do? !!!!

T.Allen said...

Gorgeous! It is really very pretty what a transformation.

3rdEyeMuse said...

what a fantastic transformation! I can definitely see you happily wearing this while tearing down the road in that pretty little toy. :)

rochambeau said...

Your hat looks great Kate! Thank you for sharing your beautiful ribbons with me too!

You both will look stylin'in that red car!

xox
Constance

Gabriela said...

Hello Kate,

Simply awesome!



~ Gabriela ~

somepinkflowers said...

owowowow...

you did so good
and
look at your presentation!

:-)

i feel like i popped
into Vogue
over
here...

shiborigirl said...

Thanks everybody! I feel vindicated - Marble Man's been snickering over this project since I started. He claims people are gonna ask me if my grandma made that hat for me...

Shows how much HE knows, right?

;)

Kate

lori vliegen said...

well, firstly, i must say that you have excellent taste in "favorite toys"! and won't you look absolutely divine riding around sporting your brand new hat!! i just LOVE it!! great job, you little milliner you!! hugs, :)

Rhonda Roo said...

Silly men, with their mis-understanding of great works!
Oh my goodness, that hat is lovely-it looks like it could be resting atop the head of a southern belle, walking through her gardens, impromptu bouquet of wildflowers filling her arms, as she quietly muses about life's simple pleasures in her tailor made sundress and matching sandals. :-)
Or, it could belong to a super cool and talented chick riding in a hot car. :-)
Yay, Ms. Kate! Go, girl!

Faded Plains said...

Oh...wow...Kate that is utterly beautiful...love it!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Christie Minchew said...

I love it! It reminds me of several hats I've bought with the same intention... :). You did a great job and I think the under-the-chin tie is the perfect solution for the bat (out of hell) mobile!
Thanks for the feedback on my pendant purse, too :).

a fanciful twist said...

OH YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! A walmart thing, made into a work of art!!!!!

Oh, is that Marble man? In the left sidebar? CHarming!!!!

I bet your hat was the hit!, so fab! xoxo

Cecile/DreamCreateRepeat said...

Oh, I miss our convertible...have fun! The hat looks lovely (what does Marble Man know) and I found that the trick was to keep the brim low enough to not catch wind. You'll be happy it ties on in any case!

julie king said...

what a lovely hat!! and what a stunning picture you will make as you tour the country side or head off for vacation.

somepinkflowers said...

i just came back
to show
my friend
your flowered, dreamy hat...

:-)


seriously................

julie said...

Kate,
I'm going down the line and visiting the One World, One Heart participants who I didn't have time to visit during the actual event...
and I wish I'd found you sooner...lovely goodies, good music, vegetarian recipes, great list of movies...on and on..
julie

High Desert Diva said...

Damn.......you're stylin' now!



I see you bought the fabric leaves premade....I need to find a pattern....that's just what I need for a project.

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