First steps on the coarse straw hat with the green veil
The picture on the left shows the original shape of the body. I ‘ve had it for a while and the truth is that in it’s original form it reminds me of a van Gogh painting, be it the self portrait or the one where the field workers are taking an afternoon nap. It’s not a look that I want for me, but when I flipped the brim down something miraculous happened because it got the most beautiful cloche shape.
Don’t you agree? The downturned brim looks really great, but I don’t like the way the crown narrows on the top, so I’ve run the crown under the tap, shaken the excess water, and put it in a block. I’ve been able to use for the first time my new blocking spring (that I won at the competition of the Hatalk magazine). It’s not really a spring, more like a plastic tube, and you need to have all the different sizes because it doesn’t stretch that much.
Tomorrow I will see how I finish it off. The idea was to use a green vintage veil I have, but I’m not sure if that will work!
How funny; lately I have been obsessed with flatting the round tips on all my hats. I usually just steam them up and hold then down with something upside down, or pinch a crease. It’s nice to know if I change my mind later, the crown can be reblocked in a jiffy.
Your vintage green veiling: Are those sequinese or little flowers attached? The holes look like a honeycomb shape. The brown vintage that I used on the last brown straw looks like a twin to your green. Wonder what other colors are out there? It is such a great veil to work with!
And I have found a way to mend vintage veiling: A needle tip stuck into crystal glue, then touched to both ends of the broken veil part. Touch the pieces together and hold with the tip for a second, done.
Fiddly work, but worth it in a really beautiful veil with a break at an obvious place.
I LOVE the cloche form on that straw!
Comment by jill — July 23, 2007 @ 6:53 pm
Jill, look here for the details of the veil: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1015/865693892_9965c7d59f.jpg
I love your tip about mending veil, and I agree these old veilings are so gorgeous they deserve restoration.
Thanks!
Cristina
Comment by cristinadeprada — July 23, 2007 @ 8:22 pm
Ohhhh,that veiling is just awesome!!!
I want some too!
Comment by jill — July 25, 2007 @ 4:30 pm