MATERIALS
» Buckram hat form I made my own;
instructions on how to do that can be
found at craftzine.com/10/fancyhat.
Or purchase a pre-made hat form.
» ¼yd buckram Buckram is a stiff,
starchy cloth used in millinery.
» ¼yd medium-weight fabric (fabric A)
» 1yd medium-weight fabric in a
different color (fabric B)
» 1½yds fine tulle or veiling
» Elastic headband
» Coordinating felt square
» Beads
» Feathers
» Coordinating thread
» Hand-sewing needle
» Pins
» Scissors
» Iron
» Water-soluble fabric pen
NOTE: The hat form, buckram, fabrics, and trimmings can all be found at lacis.com or your local
millinery store.
A
B
1. Cut out your fabrics.
Fabric A: Lay your hat form on the wrong side of
the fabric. Using the ruler and fabric marker, mark
the fabric ¾" from the hat form edge, entirely
around the fabric form. Cut it out. This piece should
be ¾" larger than the form on all edges. Then cut
one 4"× 12" strip.
pull the thread so that the fabric tautly wraps
around to the underside of the form.
Once you’ve stitched around the entire piece, tie
a knot. Then go around the form again, whipstitching the fabric’s raw edges to the underside of the
form, being careful not to stitch through the top
outside layer of fabric.
Fabric B: Cut two 4"× 12" strips and one
2½"× 17" strip.
Buckram: Cut three 1"× 12" strips and one
3"× 17" strip.
Felt: Trace the hat form shape onto your felt.
Cut just inside your tracing. The felt should be
1" smaller than the form on all sides.
3. Cover the buckram with corresponding lengths of fabric strips.
With your iron, press each fabric strip ( 1 of fabric A
and 3 of fabric B) in half lengthwise, then open it
up and fold both of the raw edges in to meet at the
center crease, and press.
Insert a buckram strip under one of the raw
edges of each fabric strip, then fold each strip in
half again, along its original crease, and press. Slip-stitch along the edge of each strip to enclose the
buckram and the raw edges (Figure B).
2. Cover the hat form.
Pin fabric A, with the right side facing up, to the
outside center of the hat form. Then, with a needle 4. Embellish the covered hat form.
and thread, do a running stitch ¼" from the edge of This is the fun part, and there are no rules. With
the fabric, around the entire piece (Figure A). Gently the covered strips you can create rings and loops
