Tea Hat

I recently went to a ladies tea party at my church with the girls from our small group and as soon as I heard about it, I decided that I was going to wear a hat. Of course this idea spawned from my infatuation with the royal wedding and all of the amazing hats there. I wish our Western society hadn't lost the factor of sofistication that our English counterparts still possess, but that's a whole other tangent. Back on track. Hats. Okay, so I searched and searched and searched for a Kentucky Derby-like hat and decided that there is no place local that carries such hats, even in Pasadena! So I went online and I found that I could order them online but they ranged from $150-$700!!! Definately was not going to pay that.....so I found a couple pictures of sample hats I loved and decided I was going to make one myself.

These are the materials that I started with: a simple sun hat with a wide brim, black thread to match, 2 different types of tulle (one stiff and one decorative and flimsy), a piece of black satin, feathers to match the dress I was going to wear, and embellishment for the center of the fabric flower, glue gun and some pink material that I ended up not using.


First, I removed the little bow knot that was orginally around the side band where it met the brim and laid out the decorative flimsy tulle on top of the hat.


Next, I sewed little pin-tucks all round the base of the side band to secure the tool to the hat and have it take its form. Notice that I did not make sure the material was flat. I wanted to overlap it at places to add character.


Next I used the stiff tool and gathered it rather haphazardly to create a poof. Once gathered, I sewed the base just itself to keep it together then I sewed it to the base of the hat side band.


Next, I used that poof to determine how the hat would sit on my head. Based on that, I sewed the flimsy tool underneath the left side of the brim (the part that would be down) and then I evenly cut and left loose the remaining edge that would be positioned and tilted upward. I left about 1 1/2 to 2 inches loose. By created the pleated gathers earlier when securing the tulle to the bottom of the side band, it created a nice wave to the tulle when left to lay freely on the brim.

Okay, I skipped photographing a couple of steps because my hands were full. For the flower, I took the underside of a piece of silk (because I didn't want the sheen) and folded it over and then started gathering it in the center and worked my way around. Once I had it somewhat looking like a flower, I sewed the center to secure it to itself then I added the silver embellishment to the center. Then I started to add feathers.

Ta Da!!! The finished product in all its glory!

And here it is on....

A little blurry, but here's a side view.

Another view of the finished product.

At the Ladies Tea Party with Michelle and Meg from our small group.

Cows & Rain

I was going through my camera and I found these fantastic pictures from when Mitch and I went up to Merced a month or two ago. My mom, my sister and I were hanging out the entire day and we ended it by driving up to UC Merced. It is absolutely beautiful there because it is right in the heart of country land. Also, there are lots of cows!! When you combine cows, rain, beautiful lighting and a rainbow, you get some cool pics! (BTW.....I LOVE cows.) Enjoy!

I truly miss living in Merced when I look at pictures like this. I miss the slower lifestyle. I miss having less traffic. I miss how the towns are actually separated by miles and miles and not just feet. I miss how the country is only a short drive away. I miss being able to get away from crowds of people so easily. I miss going to the grocery store and running into a ton of people you know and having the cashiers know you by name. I miss the cows and I miss having my family closer. Merced is a good place. I'm a fan.