Ruben Salinas – USA

Calistoga

Description

An equilibrium is a balance of an entity or action. I came to make hats about 3 years ago and completely by accident. In retirement I tried making a dress for a new granddaughter. Then I decided to add a hat to her ensemble. I looked up how to make a hat and came up with a pretty bad hat. Even though the little dress I made was my first attempt at sewing I thought I could do better on the hat making. However there is really nothing on how to make a structured cloth hat so I tried deconstructing many, many hats and literally I made a hundred hats before they became saleable. Yes I do make hats for sale…at Aloha Festivals. Generally I make hats from re-purposed Hawaiian shirts. So even though this hat entry is not an Aloha hat it is nevertheless made from a re-purposed dress material. Using re-purposed material is my way of achieving an equilibrium for our earth. Instead of the material being added to the world’s garbage heaps I give it another lifetime of use. In my personal life I have re-purposed my life. This new “hat making” calling gives me balance to my life in retirement. Also in retirement I always wear hats…always. I think it is important to provide sun protection to my face. Therefore all of my hats have brims. Finally each hat is absolutely unique to the world. My hat entry is unique and absolutely beautiful. It’s a winner!

Materials

• re-purposed cotton dress
• pellon 809
• 18 gauge brim wire

Techniques

• using hat patterns I designed I cut a brim, a crown top, 2 side crown rockers, and a sweatband.
• I then add a pellon fusion material in the center of all the pieces.
• I sew all of the parts edges to keep them from fraying.
• I sew the 2 rockers together and add the top crown.
• I add the 18 gauge wire to the brim and sew it in place.
• I then sew the brim to the completed crown.
• and lastly I sew in the sweatband.
• please note that I do not add a hat band. The hats already have a beautiful design and do not need further adornment.