Re-Posting Hat Tutorial!

Hey people :)

I recently got on Pinterest and I saw someone pinned my Hat Tutorial... and then I remembered when I lasted tried to edit it, things went... bad.

So here is my attempt to re-post this tutorial, and hopefully the pictures will actually match with the steps.  To make this easier I am just going to write out the steps, and then have the pictures one after the other in the order that you see the steps!

I hope that this encourages other people to make their own hats and please send me pictures or post links to them in the comments below! :)

You will need: 2 felt hats.  Glue, preferably fabric glue, but I have used hot glue as well (just be careful with what kind of fabric you are using and test stuff out!), Scissors, Hairclip/comb/ribbon.  Trim of your choice.


Step one.
Take one of your felt hats and scissors.  Start off by cutting the brim of your hat.  Yes, your going to cut your hat into pieces.  After you cut the brim off, make a slit up the side, to the top of the hat.  

Good, now cut the rest of the body of the hat off from the very top of the hat, keeping the top of the hat's circular/oval shape.  So now you have a bunch of hat pieces, right?  This is going to be the pattern you will use for the fabric.  The best part is that after you have cut this one hat up you don't have to cut another one up.  Just keep the pieces and you can make more in the future!

Step two.
After you have chosen your fabric, take the pieces of your cut up hat and proceed to cut your fabric.  Remember to cut the pieces a little larger than your pattern (you can trim it later if needed).  This will insure that your pieces are not too small and that none of the black felt will be visible.

For the brim, I cut two pieces.  One for the top and one for the bottom.  You don't have to do both, its just what I like to do to give a more finished look.  With fabrics that have more give then others, I make the hole on the topside of the brim smaller, where the bottom piece the opening will be the same size as the opening.  The brim on the bottom will be slightly wider than the top piece.  (Hopefully I haven't lost you yet!)

Step three.

Its now time to bring out your glue.  I start with the brim first.  You don't have to, but I think it looks better this way.  Take your uncut hat and apply the glue around the top of the brim.  If using fabric glue, let the glue sit on the hat so that it can get nice and tacky for when you put the fabric on.  Slip the top cover of the brim over the hat and smooth it over the brim, and fold over the extra fabric to the other side of the brim and glue it down.  You can also just cut the fabric if folding it becomes too bulky.  After you have secured your fabric over the brim, again let the hat sit for a while.

This process can be a bit long and tedious, but it is well worth the wait and effort.  After your feel that the glue has dried enough, you can then put the very top piece onto the hat.  Apply the glue on top and them smooth over the fabric.  

The middle section of the hat at this point should still be exposed (except for the bottom of the brim of course).  Take your fabric and glue, and put the glue on the top and bottom edge of the fabric.  Now fold it over so that it looks like you have a clean hem (for those of you who do sew, you can actually hem it!).  After the glue has dried enough on the fabric it is time to go ahead and glue on the middle section.

Your going to wrap the fabric around the hat, making sure that the folded sides are facing into the hat.  One side will over lap the other, this is normal.  This is where I like to do another fold and glue it down, making it appear that there is a seam going up the side of the hat.

Now, if you want to, you can take the bottom brim fabric and fold over the edge, or you can glue the piece on and then trim the edge (I have a feeling pictures are going to make this much easier to understand).  Again, this gives the hat a clean look once you glue the bottom piece.

Step Three is Finally Complete and you now have a fully fabric covered hat!

Step four.
This is where it gets easier.  Before you plug in your glue gun, play around with your trim a bit to find the best look for your hat.  After you have an idea of what you want your hat to look like your ready to start gluing!

Before anything, I like to glue down my ribbon/band around my hat.  After that I will add a bow, flowers, or a pendent to go on the front or side of my hat.  After I have finished with my gluing, sometimes I will add a string of beading onto the hat if I feel that it needs it.  In this tutorial I have chosen a black band, Jeweled black heart, and red feathers.

Step five.
I always add my hair clip or ribbon at the end.  You don't have to go by this example completely, its just how I like to do it.  If you're using a hair clip, I like to make sure that the clip is about the same width as the opening of the hat because the hat will have better support on your head.  I place the clip right in the middle and use the hot glue gun to glue each end of the clip to my hat.  With ribbons you can either sew them in, or glue them.  Its going to be faster and easier to glue, but with sewing you might feel more at ease about how tight you tie your hat on to your head.

And now you have your very own mini top hat!

Chopping up Brand

The title is correct. I am subjecting you all to one of my recent commissions.


A friend of mine has brought me three pieces she wishes to have altered. So far I have completed one of these requirements.  As I complete each one I will post pictures on here for your entertainment, and you can leave comments on if you love or hate it. If you do please tell me why :)

For this piece she wanted to turn it into a skirt. For payment I wanted the top half.  So there was not much altering needing to be done. I also made a hat to go with it, and used one of the bows from the top part of the dress.

My Mostly done dress!!!!

I say mostly because I did not get a chance to add the buttons or the letters.  As I have mentioned before, I recently got a new job, and at this new job, I am permitted to wear what I want (within reason) and when I told my boss I was making a dress, it was requested that I wear it to work.  Not sure if they will ask that again lol.  I honestly just might keep it the way it is.  There are some things that are off with it, but I still really love this dress!!!  I cannot wait to get started on the next two that I have plans for, but first I have a lot of skirts that are waiting to be made!

                                                                                                                                                                    
I do not remember if I mentioned this in previous posts or not, but this dress was used from an old top of mine and fabric that was left over from a friend!  Basically, the only thing on this dress I paid for was the top when I originally bought it, thread, zipper, and the lining.  The blue hat, in case you are wondering, I bought at the PA Fairy Festival.  You cannot see it, but there is a pleat in the back, just like in the front.  I took a picture but then discovered how wrinkled it was lol.  My plan was to put it back on my dress form, but throwing it on and having someone else take a picture was just easier, and I was already wearing it.

So, to keep with the recycling theme I seem to have going on, my next skirt I will be recycling a T-shirt for the cute yet morbid picture that is on it.  It was originally a gift, but the T-shirt is too big and I thought it would look really cute if put the picture on a skirt!  This will be my first Gothic Lolita piece.

Well, it is time for bed!  Night Pretties!
~LD11

Dress = FAIL!!!

Ok... so I didn't mess up on how I cut the fabric, but I did forget something very important... I did not wash the fabric before cutting.  So now I have two options.  1.  Continue making the dress with the current fabric.  2.  start over again with new fabric that will be different from the original.

If I go with option 1 I will then need to get the dress dry cleaned, or at the least wash it and let it drip dry.  Option 2 gives me the chance to make this dress over again in a different color and this way I will know that the fabric will not shrink on me... I think I forgot to tell you that my main concern was that the fabric would shrink.

I think I am going to go ahead with option 1.  Worse thing that happens is that I make a second dress with the other fabric.  On the plus side, once I get this dress done I should feel more confident in making another.  I have a lot of fabric and a few dress ideas that I could use my fabric for.

Hopefully I will be posting new pictures soon!

Busy Bee

Buzzzzz buzzzzz.... ok, so that might be more annoying than cute.

So, I have been working on a few projects!  I just finished a pair of bloomers and they look really cute!  I have a picture of me wearing them... but I have no idea if it would be appropriate for me to post that... With the top I am wearing they just look like fluffy shorts...  and I look cute in the picture, but I don't want to offend anyone by posting it so I wont unless you really want to see them.

Bloomers aside, I am finally finishing that hat box!  I am not going to post pictures of it just yet because it is not done yet.  I have still painting the outside of it and then once that is done I will be making a lining for the inside.  If this continues to go well, I will make hat boxes for all my hats!... that is going to be a lot of boxes in my room.

So... now that I have made the bloomers... I am going to work on the dress that I said I was going to work on but only put it off...  Today is the day that I finally cut the fabric... I'm so nervous... really, what if this comes out looking like crap?  Or I make it too small?... well if I make it too small I am sure someone else will want it so long as it would fit them properly and I didn't make a massive piece of crappy-frill.

Well, I should go work on that since I am now being kicked off the computer.  Stay pretty and pray that I don't fudge this up...

-Lolita Doll 11

Cupcake Purse!

Ok, so I keep trying to load the picture of my new purse on FB but for some reason it is not taking it.  Grrr Facebook!  But that is ok because I can show it off here!

It was actually not that hard, but it does not look as polished as I would like for it to look.  Either way, I have a cute purse now to go with my skirt!  Hoping to make a headpiece to go with it soon now too.  But first, I am fighting off a cold or something.  Check in with everyone later!

-Lolita Doll 11

Finally Finished!

So my JSK is finally finished.  I might add a bow in the back later, but as of now, this piece is being labeled done, and I am checking it off the list!  It is so cute and I love everything about it!  If I wasn't so tired, I would be posting pictures but I am very tired.  I still have some fabric left over and I plan on making a head piece and matching purse.  The only thing I am worried about the purse is that it will not make the shape that I want, but we shall have to see.  This of course will have to be worked on later as I have recently acquired even more donations of fabric!

As much as I really want to work on another skirt, I might be putting that on the back burner.  Me and some friends want to go to Otakon, and I am going to be doing my first group cosplay (its a group of 3 but still).  I'm so excited for this group rp, its going to be epic!  I plan on working on my costume asap.  So our first group cosplay is going to be Vocaloid (actually, I have no idea what the line-up is going to be).  As much as I love Rin, I might end up doing another character.  Maybe a guy since I have the height, I will have to take a look and see which ones would be best suited for me.  The next is My Little Ponies.... Don't look at me like that!  It was a part of my childhood, and after watching the show I have decided I am Fluttershy!  And I plan on making a Fluttershy Lolita inspired cosplay.  I have seen it done before, but hopefully I can rock it better!  As for our last group cosplay... I want to keep it a secret.  I'm so excited for it!  I get to dress up as the character that basically started my downward spiral of nerdy-geek-anime-fun-loving-ness.  So I need to figure out what I want to work on First.  Probably Fluttershy as her costume will be the easiest to make (minus the wings... I might buy those... depends on how much time and money I have.)  As for my Vocaloid Costume, Akita is taken and I am not sure who my other friend is dressing as.  I did Rin The Daughter of Evil, and that was fun, I still have the costume.

Well, it is time to sleep and then after that it will be time to get up and do more sewing!  I will post pictures soon of my JSK!  Cannot wait to show it off!

-Lolita Doll 11

Project listing for 2012... In no real order.

Hi everyone!  I thought I would map out a few things I would like to get started on once the new year starts!  I am going to be documenting each project (or at least try to remember to document), showing what I am making and how I am making it.  So if there is an item on this list that interests you be sure to keep checking for updates.

Sew Projects for 2012
Matching belt and clutch purse (and anything else I can make out of remaining fabric)
 More Lolita Hats and Hair clips  Completed a lot and still going!
Hat Boxes (for the Lolita Hats)  Completed 1
Finger-less gloves
Handkerchief (The Green Lolita)
Masks
Winter cape (I have actually been trying to work on this for a while, just been finding a lot of issues)
Lolita Skirts  Completed 3
Lolita Dress (must be done before the summer!)
Bloomers   Completed 2!
Teddy Bear toy
Ties, for men, women and children (I will include a link to a very good tutorial on Youtube!)  Completed one woman's tie
Fairy Costume
Jewelry
Bedding (this will have to be after the summer).
Steampunk Goggles

So what is my goal by doing this?  Well I am hoping that by doing this I am doing something more than just staring at a box for the rest of my life.  When I get older, and I am holding something in my hands that I made,  I want look back on it and go "Hey, I did this!"  I'm not looking to get rich by making and selling these pieces (because I plan on wearing and using most of them and if I don't, giving them away as gifts).  I do have an Etsy account... but I'm not really selling my items for very much, so I wont really make a profit off of them.  I might put a few more items that I make online, but if I do sell them I am going to sell them for how much it cost to make them, for the time being.  If the Etsy store picks up I might think about rising my prices but for right now I just want to make stuff and be happy knowing that whoever buys them will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.

There is another reason why I am giving myself such a task.  This past Christmas, I gave my niece a sewing machine.  Nothing fancy, its a simple crafting sewing machine.  I want to use this project list as something the both of us can work on and its a learning experience for her.  She is a very smart girl and I expect that she will pick up everything really quickly.  No one taught me to sew, not like in a classroom.  I learned from watching friends and they showed me the very basics.  After that I read and looked up online.  That was helpful, and every time I sew I do notice that I am getting better and better at it.  I only wish that I had become interested in sewing at a younger age.  The point though isn't about how I didn't know how to sew before, but that I know now and I am doing something with it.

Well, that is it for today.  If you have any suggestions on project ideas or questions, please feel free to leave a comment below!  Thanks!

-Lolita Doll 11