"Buttons and Bows"

Annette Edgar

United Kingdom

• Knotted Flower Fascinator Project by Ann Morse-Brown

I got my inspiration from the article as stated above, which had a central rolled ribbon.

I like working with Italian Felt but it is very difficult to stiffen because it is loosely felted and will not absorb stiffeners easily so manipulating it by rolling it is a good way of using it for decoration. and it is good for covering buckram blocked shapes.

The ribbon flower centre in this project gave me the idea of rolling the strips of felt to create the decoration "buttons" which were then covered with lace to match the hat. The "bows" in the article are represented by covered plastic wire and crinoline wrapped around them.

I used a block which has a groove for blocking but it is also very useful for inserting covered wire as part of the shape and for decoration.

• Italian Wool Felt
• Buckram
• Crinoline fabric to cover the buckram
• Wire for brim
• Lace fabric
• Plastic wire for decoration
• Crinoline tubing for decoration
• Thread for sewing
• Elastic for holding the hat in place
• Petersham ribbon for headband

• Wooden base hat block blocked with buckram.
• Brim Wire attached by hand.
• Crinoline smoothing layer sewn over the buckram.
• Crinoline bias strip layer sewn to edge to smooth, cover the wire and give a foundation to sew on.
• Wool felt layer added to cover the prepared base.
• Lace layer then stitched over the wool.
• “Button” discs made by rolling strips of wool felt, covered in lace and attached.
• Crin tubing wrapped over petersham tubing for “bow”s.
• Lining made and stitched in by hand.
• Grosgrain ribbon headband attached.
• Elastic inserted to hold hat in place.