Monday 21 May 2018

STUMPWORK TUTORIAL - Millinery and Hat Making

Previous parts of the tutorial can be found here:


Part 7 - Millinery and Hat Making


Here is the seventh part of a tutorial for stumpwork portraits, inspired by Fay Maxwell, whose excellent book Ladies with Hatitude I warmly recommend.

MILLINERY AND HAT MAKING

There are many materials that can be used to make a hat - fabric, felt, lace, yarn, fur...


The simplest of fur hats, a small rectangle!

A lace flower can be cut out and draped over the head.

Let's make a hat out of a piece of felt:
Cut out a piece large enough for the brim and the crown.


Cut out the rounded crown

 Stitch it down around the top of the head.


The brim should now stand out.

With pins, try out how to shape the brim.

Like this? Then stitch it down.
 
 The brim can be decorated with some stitches.


Now, let's make another hat, using the same fabric used for the coat.
Take a strip of fabric, gather it in the middle, and cut off.

Drape the gather over the top of the head.

 Stitch it down.
 Fold in the raw edges to shape the crown of the hat.

Fix the two far edges of the brim to the background so the brim stands out.
For a simple decoration on the hat, take a piece of felt,

 gather it, and stitch down.

Instant glamor, even if the brim has a raw edge!

For ideas and illustrations of various hats check out this list.

I usually make my portraits into cards by stretching the fabric over a piece of cardboard. Click here to see.

Here ends the basics in Stumpwork Portrait making. In future I will post alternative ways to arrange hair, make garments and so on.
I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and will have a go!

19 comments:

Rachel said...

You can also use needlelace stitches to make hats that look like knitted beanies...!

Queeniepatch said...

Absolutely!
I also know someone who has made hats by knitting darning wool with a pair of bamboo skewers (for BBQ) - a job for the patient one!
In this free form of stumpwork ANYTHING goes, so I usually use up odd pieces of scrap.

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

It's been a great tutorial with so many examples of how bits of fabric can be manipulated. I thoroughly enjoyed these posts.
xx, Carol

Shirlee Fassell said...

Love to watch the process! Looking forwards to more tutorials.

Janie said...

What beautiful clever work Queenie. The hats are lovely and the portrait too.
I enjoyed your tutorials on stump work, thank you.

Pamela said...

Great tutorial with excellent photos illustrating how to do what you explain!

Queeniepatch said...

Thank you for your kind words. It was fun, although time consuming, to make this tutorial.

Queeniepatch said...

Isn't it amazing that tweaking a scrap of fabric can turn into a hat?

Queeniepatch said...

Thank you for your praise and encouragement. Time permitting there will be many more tutorials.

Queeniepatch said...

I am glad to hear that, and hope you have been inspired to play with any odd bit of fabric you might have.

crazyQstitcher said...

Your tutorial has been a pleasure to follow. Such a variety of millinery examples and fabrics.
The lady in No 7 photo seems to be daring you to alter her hat but in No 8 is quite pleased you did.

Queeniepatch said...

With this simple way of fixing the hat to the background there is no problem changing to another hat! Just rip out a few stitches and stitch on another one!
It was fun to make this tutorial and I am pleased so many have read it.

Mia said...

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WILL DEFINITELY TRY IT!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much for the tutorial, my kind friend. Kisses!!!!!

Queeniepatch said...

I hope you do try it. It is fun to make these portraits!

yarngoddess@hotmail.com said...

Beautiful Hats! Thanks for a great tutorial. Inspirational!
Diane

https://linsartyblobs.blogspot.com said...

Excellent tutorial, great hats!

Queeniepatch said...

Thank you Diane,
dressing these ladies in hats is great fun!

Queeniepatch said...

Thank you Linda,
I enjoyed making the tutorial and of course love making hats!

FlashinScissors said...

Gosh, Queenie! A great tutorial! Your ladies look beautiful, and from such tiny scraps too!
Thank you for sharing.
Hugs,
Barbara xx