Casually piling up stuff… not so simple
My mother has been feeling under the weather for quite a long time now, and although I really wanted her to come to our “Passejada amb Barret” (Walk with a hat) I was not sure she would be able to make it.
Finally she made a big effort and joined us, and I arranged special transportation for her, a rickshaw bike that carried her and some delighted little friends when she was too tired to walk.
She asked me for a hat for the event, one that would show her blue hair, so I came up with something (in inspiration quite similar to last years creation for her) mounted on a head band and with the look of casually piled up ribbon and wire mesh. I did this hat (a whimsy you may call it) in 6 hours on the evening before, so I hope you will take that into account when you look at it.
The head band underneath is a simple thin metallic one, and I covered it with black elastic velvet from Mokuba. The blue velvet ribbon on the other hand is vintage and has a thin wire embedded, and the wire mesh is a modern material very light and can be pulled and stretched.
I kept on twisting, turning, looking and positioning the wire and the velvet until I liked the position. Once everything was pinned I sewed the whole thing in place, bit by bit, very carefully, so as not to destroy the feeling of flow and airiness.
Halfway through the process I realized the whole thing was not stable and I was afraid that a gust of wind would make it tumble so I added a wire for stability. The wire runs as an inverted u inside the structure and finishes as a circle on the underside. Just that tiny circle sitting on the head gives lots of stability. Of the wire I only covered the under circle and painted with a blue felt tip pen the wire that runs through the structure to camouflage it.
So there you have it… considering the time frame available I’m happy of the result, but I must confess that the front view in the best.
pues si Cristina, la verdad es que te quedo fantástico y tu madre lució divina. felicidades.
buena semana, Paco
Comment by paco peralta — April 26, 2009 @ 8:05 pm
Ethereal, Like a little puff of blue smoke atop a head. Lovely and a great solution to keep it in place.. Thanks for posting it. Like always I love it!
Comment by Montez — April 26, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
¡Enhorabuena, precioso tocado azul¡. Muy buena idea para hacerlo estable.
¿Conoces el velvet tubing?. Offay ribbon lo tiene (no te pierdas su catalogo de cintas). En ebay USA tambien lo puedes encontrar. Un saludo.
Comment by carmen aguadero — April 27, 2009 @ 8:08 am
Now, we want you to show us a picture from your mother with this wonder 😉
Comment by Nila Taranco — April 27, 2009 @ 9:13 am
I love it and I’d love to see a picture of your mother wearing it too
Comment by Cath — April 27, 2009 @ 10:14 am
Thank you everyone for your kind comments! Gracias a todos por vuestros comentarios!
Carmen, si que conozco el velvet tubing. Mokuba tiene cinta tubular de varios tipos. En este caso utilizé lo que tenía por casa por falta de tiempo. Gracias!
Comment by cristinadeprada — April 27, 2009 @ 12:48 pm
Very whimsical and fun. I’m sure she loved it.
Comment by Min — April 27, 2009 @ 3:59 pm