This will be a post on how to make the small little late Victorian hats .
These are very quick and cheap to make as they are quite small and the easiest style of Victorian head wear to make and wear.
Its easy to make an impressive looking hat as they are usually heavily decorated or decorated with very eye catching trims
you will need
a ceral box ,or some cardboard of the same thickness
scissors
cellotape or parcel tape
needle and cotton
A small piece of fabric ,velvet ,silk ,taffeta cotton wool are all suitable
some scraps of ribbon,lace or other trims such as feather trim faux flowers or ribbon bows or rosettes
a headband ,the cheap three for a pound kind are fine and preferable as the band needs to be quite narrow.
Ideally Also
Some net ,tulle or veiling this will make the hat look a lot better but it isn’t essential
some pleated ribbon,
The more interesting the odds and ends you can find to decorate the hats the more authentic they are likely to look.
Before I begin I thought it worth mentioning another alternative if you prefer a little summery straw hat which looks better if your wearing a hoop skirt or a summery bustle dress
,its possible to buy the cheap sun hats made for children and sold especially around Easter and make excellent little Victorian (and Georgian) style hats by adding lots of trims and veiling especially flowers and feathers,you can sew the front or back brim up or both to create a Tricorn
These look very authentic once on your head.
They do unfortunately need a hat pin to keep them in place
To make a little tilt hat from cardboard
find some cardboard ,an old cereal box is perfect
cut out the sides and leave two oblongs from the front and back of the box
Check the ovals approximately the right size and shape ,longer towards the back is good if you want to curve the back to give height ,smaller narrower ones work if its going to be ontop of a complex hairstyle ,now cut out the second of the ovals.
Tape together and check again its the right size (see Above) then fully cover in tape
Place the ovals on top of your chosen fabric,,the fabric your dress is made with is ideal ,I have used velvet here which works well as it has slight stretch ( I also made a hat with shot taffeta which I will show at the base of this post ,but I wanted to use the basic steps with the minimum of trims for the making instructions,use a bigger piece than normal for your first hat in case you make any mistakes ,ordinarily you can use very small scarp pieces from gown fabric etc ,even use two contrasting pieces and cover the gaps on top with trim
gather or fold fabric underneath and sew ,underneath fabric together leaving to small gaps either side for a hair band to thread through if the fabrics one with no stretch ,as this is velvet you can cut holes later
ruche the top fabric slightly to give a bit of depth,
if you have enough spare fabric you can add more height by gathered more and more and stuff the gaps with tulle or fabric scraps the photo below shows this with the taffeta hat
Now add some trims ,feathers ,ribbons etc,
these can be small scraps and dont need to be bought specially ,pieces from gifts ,chocolate box or flower ribbon ,flowers from Christmas decorations or bits of feathers from old hats or fascinators or fancy hair bands,earrings etc they wont be seen up close so if they have slight damage this isn’t a problem.
you can use the ruched fabric to hide feathers, and as above step where you place the feathers to give depth.You can use them flat against the hat they dont need to stick up and bend the cardboard as needed to give height at the back and curve the sides downwards,While the top must look good no one is likely to see it closely as its on your head so the sides ,back and underneath are as important especially the back as its likely to be highlighted by your hair style,I try to add a small faux veil to the back any transparent fabric ,net or even lace will work any length but mid length is best.The “veil” below is from an old evening top
and add some veiling if possible for the front and top ,this is the part which most contributes to making the hat look authentic ,even small scraps sewn on top help
thread hairband through the underneath and use thread to sew it securely on you can use this to give the underneath more curve ,try to use a hair band you hair colour or close to it.check how the hat looks from the front back and sides one at head height.The hat may not look very interesting unworn but once its on it will look great.Many extant Victorian hats in this style also look uninspiring when off .you can make more complicated hats by adding layering which is what the Victorian hats looked like
Heres the steps to decorating the more complicated hat below with more trimmings.
Work on creating more height either with extra netting or you can ruche top to a greater height and more complicated gathers then add some pleated trim around the front but not all the way around to avoid the doily look ,cover any outer edge gap with something else eg feathers
add feathers stepped some at the back some at the sides and facing different ways,you can cover the feathers ends with the fabric as below then stitch it so the fabrics ruched over it
,you could also add a few different shades of feather if you have them. to Increase your feathers without buying more cut longer feathers
and use the end bits laid flat on the hat
Add some flowers fruit etc add a few together if possible rather than single ones ,more was often the best as far as the Victorian were concerned
Add any other spare bits of trim ,scraps of veiling ribbon etc add a back veil and front veiling tilt to your preferred shape, make sure each side is interesting in its own right
Especially the back
Individual items wont be noticed but the overall effect will while hats look ok without adding front veiling will make them look much better
I hope this has been helpful,while I usually make oval hats with the ends of the oval pointing towards your face you can make them so the long ends go ear to ear and also try assorted shapes .
It may be a while but I will add a further hat post with a guide on how to make Victorian ladies top hat and other felt styles .
For these you need some charity /thrift shop hats which you cut up the back and close in slightly to make smaller then twist into assorted shapes .To make a more elaborate version or a smaler l size of hat you need to cut a v shaped wedge out of the back Unfortunately I dont currently have any vintage hats so I wont be able to add instructions until I find some but here are the shapes you can create some use hats without wired brims some need wired brims .
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Thank you for this guide, i just stumbled upon it and its very helpful! Also is that a little Cavalier i see? I have one, aren’t they just the sweetest – such lovely dogs with wonderful personalities
Hi
Thanks ,Yes its a cavalier, they are wonderful so loyal and affectionate ,its the first small dog we have owned ,we usually have German Shepherds ,but our current dog was lonely and I had always wanted a cavalier King Charles so we got Tilly and she makse the big dog a lot more confident because its quite timid and shes quite happy go lucky
hi , this seemed nice and easy but the grammer is not correct and pictures not very great .. so i didnt get how and where to sew on the headband .. how it stays on top of the head .. and how and where to attach the hatpin
Hi ,I am aware that posts sometimes have grammer a d spelling problems but I am dyslexic and spell checks dont always work or correct grammer.
The little hats sew onto a plastic headband so they dont need a hat pin ,sorry the photos are a little dark ,but ypu can either sew the hairband straight onto the underneath of the hat onto rne fabric you have covered the hat with,or leave some gaps before you finish sewing together the fabric under the hat and thread the hair band through that then stitch the fabric over it ,that makes a much sturdier hat ,,sew the hair band on either in the middle of the hat or depending on how far forward or back you want the hat to sit a little bit further forward or back.
The hat at the bottom of the page the black felt one needs the hat pin pushing through both the hat and your hair ,you really need your hair to be in a style that sits under the hat, or partly under it ,zi doubt it will work with your hair loose .The hat pin needs to be as close to your head as possible, which is tricky without sticking it in your skin so I usually push the hatpin partially through any very thick felted hat so you dont need to push too hard.Be very gentle pushing it ,I like to feel it fairly close my skull because its on a straight line then pushing it in at too sharp a handle can give you a nasty scratch.Its essential your hat pins very sharp,,like knives ypur more likely to get scratched if you have to put too much force into fixing the hat pin,,after a while its very easy to do …
Bye,, and please let me know if you need more details