Mad About Hats

Sharon Sullivan is the imaginative milliner behind Dream Hats.  Fascinated by all things hat-like, she can often be found working with her QA specialist, Hobbes

 
Hat Facts:
The "10/6" on the Hatter's hat means ten shillings and six pence, the price of the hat in pre-decimalised British money and acts as a symbol of the hatters trade.
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Viva Dallas! - Friday, December 02, 2011

 Viva Dallas Burlesque is an amazing once-a-month burlesque revue in Dallas, TX.  If you haven't been, you need to change that!  Besides some incredible talent on stage, there's some pretty cool stuff offstage as well.  One Star Designs, Incorrigible Dames, and a host of others (including yours truly!) bring all sorts of sparklies and pretties for your shopping pleasure.  Here are a few things that will be at the Dream Hats table tonight:  

          
   

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Bad News/Good News - Wednesday, November 02, 2011

The bad news is, this weekend's show - The Nightmare Machine - has been postponed.  It promises to be a good steampunk convention though, so I'll let you all know as soon as its rescheduled.  

The good news is, I WILL be at Viva Dallas Burlesque this Friday night!  I'll be bringing a table full of my custom pieces, so come see the show and say hi!  

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Well, this is awkward... - Friday, October 14, 2011

I read recently that one of the worst things you can do in a blog when you've been derelict in your posting is to mention "hey, so I've been derelict in my posting".   You should NEVER point out the fact that its been a while between posts. 

However. 

If I don't metion the fact that its been 3 weeks since I've posted to my blog, how else can I explain the sudden slew of photos I'm about to dump upon you?  I mean, really - if I just say "here, have some photos!" you'll think I'm nuts.  But if I say "hey, I've been working really hard lately, check out what I've been up to!", you'll think "ahhhh, she's been really busy lately - I wonder what she's been up to?"

See how that works?  Clever, huh? 


Anyway....after FenCon (so much fun!), it was time to get back to the workroom and finish up a stack of commissions I had waiting.  Here's what's been on the workbench: 

First off, here's how the Hisselpenny hat turned out!  It was big, it was heavy,
it was amazing.  People had a great time trying it on and strutting
their stuff.   If you're curious how the hat contest turned out, you can read
author Gail Carriger's 
blog about it 

 

 

Victorian derby - I made this for a spooky
Victorian costume. I rarely get to use beaded
fringe so I had far too much fun
making this one.  

 

 



Attifet - this one took much longer than I
thought it would, given the fabric's penchant for
sliding about and fraying like it was made of gossamer. 
It was made to match the client's renfaire gown,
and I think the pink and silver go rather nicely together.
After taking this photo, I added a pearl drop bead to the
center point. 

 

 

Witch hat - this is a really fun project. 
The goal is to make a witch hat for a Bunco group,
so its a traditional witchy hat, only....with dice. 
I've found all sorts of dice - dice beads, dice
necklaces...all kinds of fun dice.  I even tried making my own
fuzzy dice, but I  wasn't happy with the results.  The hat itself is
finished but I haven't yet attached the dice.  So right now its just a
Witchy Hat, but soon it will be a Witchy Hat With Dice.  Oh yes. 

 

I've also finished a beautiful renaissance flat cap, but I dont have a photo of it yet, and that's a crying shame.  Its made of a beautiful velveteen, alternated with this amazing black and silver brocade.  Truly decadent.  There will be pictures, I promise. 

So, that's what I've been up to.  Next up is a steampunk convention on November 5th, and I want to make about 5 bajillion hats for it.  Wheeee! 

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Hisselpenny Hat progress, part 2 - Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Covering the crown:

 

 

 

 

 

Adding the stripey hatband...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here it is so far.  Just need to add the trims and it will be finished! 

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Hisselpenny Hat Progress, part 1 - Tuesday, September 13, 2011

My Ivy Hisselpenny hat is coming along nicely.  Thought I'd give you a peek: 

Here are the fabrics I'm using - pretty garish, don't you think? 

The green of the stripe and the orange of the feather match the floral print perfectly.  The green stripe is going to be a gigantic bow on the larger side of the offset brim.  There will also be some ivory feathers and flowers mixed in there somewhere.  It's a big brim, I'll find room! 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of big brims.....

Like I said, its a BIG brim!  That's my pin cushion sitting on top to give you an idea of scale.  Or, you could just look at how it dwarfs my sewing machine! 

Normally when making a brim, you add wire to the outside edge only.  However, this brim is so large that I added a second ring of wire about halfway between the edge and the crown opening.  It takes a lot of wire to stabilize something that size. 

This is So. Much. Fun.  Next post - covering the crown.....

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