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Posted 2021 November 30
I really like the big, old-fashioned lady's hats with all the ruffles, bows, ribbons, and flowers, sort of like these (particularly #6 and #3), so I decided to try making one! I loosely followed this tutorial for 1/12 scale hats, except of course some things have to be changed for 1/4. I measured out my own pattern pieces. This post is not a tutorial, since I am an absolute beginner myself when it comes to hatmaking and am mostly following someone else's guidelines. This is my first time making a hat (for dolls or otherwise). However, you're free to follow my process if you'd like.
This was intended to be a no-sew project, but halfway through I realized I needed something to line the inside of the main hat body, so I ended up sewing up a cotton lining.
I started by sketching out my rough idea for the hat design; a simple hat with some lace, flowers, and beads, based on the materials I had available. I tried to visualize the structure to help me understand the pattern shapes I'd need to make.
Next up was making the pattern — which took a little math but was still pretty easy.
I had to make a circle freehand, so I used a ruler to make sort-of-equal lines to guide me. I measured an approximate distance for the brim on my doll's head, and the width of the hat inner hole / outer top, then used those measurements to make the pattern pieces.
I cut them out for testing and I ended up needing to redo them a few times. Afterwards, I made a "final test copy" from cardstock and taped it together loosely to see how the scale looked on my doll. Now that I had a base out of cardstock, I moved on to gluing the fabric; I was using this pretty blue fabric!
I mostly did this on my own, but after looking at the tutorial again I realized I basically did the same thing as them. I used hot glue for this process — while it was drying I pushed it down with my fingers to keep it flat and to help keep things flush together.
At this point I realized I was going to need to find a way to line these pieces, or else you'd be able to see the glue-y parts underneath. I decided to make a second brim, cover it in fabric, and add lace to it, so I could glue the "bad" sides of both brims together to both hide the glue and add lace cleanly. I also made a little lace bow out of the extra lace I had left over. Next, I glued all the main pieces together.
Finally, I placed on the beads, lace bow, and fabric flower, and glued them into place. I think it came out surprisingly cute!
I tried it on my doll after, but it was a bit hard to get it to stay still and not fall off. It's likely because the head hole in the hat is a bit too small.
I was only able to get it to stay on a flat angle, but I intended it to be tilted a bit. I think it looks a bit silly flat, but I can't think of a way to fix it.
Overall I think it came out really well, even if the fit isn't 100%. I'm definitely going to try making more hats in the future. I'd like to try a top hat, or a leather hat, maybe.
♡
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