Another Dame Bonnet

Getting bored with the planning process and needing to get a bit more practical, I set to making another bonnet for the Dame.

I had already steamed this hat which was given to me by my mum.

Before steaming, a rather nifty trilby style;

 After steaming;

This time I did actually use a sewing machine and a needle...ok I did use the glue gun too but that was for adding the decorations not the actual bonnet making.

To start with I made a length of bias binding to trim the edge with once I had cut the bonnet.  I didn't want to leave the cut hat too long as the straw has a tendency to fall apart.  I then attached fabric to the inside of the bonnet with pins, this was done before cutting.  Once everything was in place I cut the bottom piece of hat out (see the tutorial on where to cut) and then attached the binding sewing it, and the lining, onto the edge of the straw.

I was using a leather needle on my sewing machine as I doubt a normal needle would have gone through those layers of straw and fabric!

I then pleated a long strip of another fabric and tucked this under the binding before sewing the second side in place.  If I was doing this as a ‘normal’ bonnet I probably would have just sewn some ribbon on at this point and it would have looked nice and pretty.

But it’s Dame Bonnet time again so I grabbed a load of pink organza and smooshed it around the bonnet, pinning it in place until I was pleased with the look.  I then hand sewed this into place (yes I sewed by hand!)

Once the ribbon ties were attached there was only one thing left to do, heat up the glue gun and stick on the bits.  One finished Dames Bonnet: