Netted Satin Tilt Hat

Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments recently!

Ah yes, I did not forget – I had promised in the previous post to go on about more than just my 1943 dress!

My hat was a ridiculously easy project, coming from a page of Burda Style’s September 2011 magazine.  They issued an article on “do-it-yourself” hats like from the royal wedding earlier that year, and I used the basic idea given there and ran with it.  After tiring myself out looking at so many inspiration pictures of original extant small tilt hats (see this page for one of my sources), I decided they all pretty much had a few things in common – small enough to show off a hairstyle, a little bit of quirkiness, and lots of over the top decoration, whether it be birds or flowers and especially netting.

Burda’s page recommended starting with an almond shape, oval and pointy, with several possible styling options shown.  So, I drafted my own from an 8 ½ by 11 inch piece of paper, with the oblong going cross-ways from one top corner to the opposite bottom corner.  Next, I cut out two “almonds” (adding in seam allowances) from the same contrast satin used for the dress.  I also cut out one of the same shape from some tarlatan on hand (see this post for more information on this fiber).  Tarlatan adds the perfect stiff-but-pliable feel to hats and is also very vintage in its usage.  Next, I sewed the two layers to ‘face’ one another, with the tarlatan sandwiched inside, and everything was top-stitched down.

I needed something to keep this little satin thing on my head to see what shape I wanted, so sewed in a small hair comb and a black elastic tie, much like a headband.  The front half of the tilt hat received a dart along the center, to add drama and bring the front down over one eye while the back half was curled over to be tacked down to the center top.  Some lovely fine and soft black netting was cut into a giant square and draped over the front to be tucked in under the back curl of the hat.  Ta da!  This was so simple and fun, I literally need to make more…only I also need a reason and place to wear them.  Humm…

I might come back to this hat in the future and add on something quirky like a giant flower or oversized brooch.  What do you think?  Should I leave it as it is?  Is it just me or does it seem weird and take a bit getting used to having netting over you face?