Pheasant Fascinator!

Pheasant Fascinator - how's that for a tongue twister!   Whilst at a Vintage day recently I saw a similar hat/fascinator for sale but unfortunately it was out of my price league.   I came home and researched materials and discovered I could make something similar for half the price.

I made this in just one day.  All the materials came from Ebay.  Materials: pheasant wing & tail feathers, fascinator base, fascinator band, fabric glue and some thread.

My First Hat!

Inspired by this ladies blog, http://www.sewingadicta.com/2011/04/hat-on-friday-tutorial.html which I found when browsing Pinterest, I decided to have a go at making a hat.   I call it my 'Sylvia' hat as it is made from a straw hat belonging to Aunty Sylvia.  This is how it went:

I cut off the crown from the brim.

Whip stitched wire (I used fuse wire as that's all I had in the house) around the base of the crown to give it stability.

Covered the rough edges with bias binding:

Then pleated a scarf over the top and stitched it down:

I'm afraid I got carried away and forgot to take photos. Basically I cut the excess edges off the scarf.  Then used this to trim the hat.  Added a feather, a ribbon bow, a fascinator headband and this is how it turned out

Really enjoyed doing this and will probably make more once I find a few straw hats, but watch this space as I've already started making a second hat using the brim from this one!