Easy Tricorn Hat Tutorial

A few years ago I decided to go with a different look for the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. It was pirate weekend and I wanted something new.  The problem with costuming is that all the fun is in the planning and making, once you've worn it the costume becomes "this old thing" and you dread wearing it again.  This can be an expensive vice. But fun, don't forget the fun.  So I decided a sort of 1700's undressed style courtesan costume would be fun in pink. I think the story I came up with for this costume was, here's this courtesan whose wealthy gentleman friend asked her to accompany him on a trip to visit his plantation in the West Indies, early one morning as they approach their destination a ship is spotted off the horizon. Pirates! Our girl is only half dressed when the ship is boarded. Of course our pirate captain looks like Tom Mison so she's not that heartbroken over her patron's death defending the ship. But I digress, so If I am going to go historically inaccurate to the Renaissance Faire I am going all the way.  I found this amazing pink fabric in the LA garment district and was off and running from there.

The fabric on the left was the first one I found and the fabric on the right was the best I could find to match it. I believe the whole thing ran me $30.00! I love reasonably priced fabrics.  Originally I had made another corset but unfortunately after I had finished it I realized it was too big!  This was due to my error in using a pattern from one of the big 3 pattern companies.  Be warned, Simplicity, McCalls, and Butterick add ease to their historical costumes and if you are making a corset you have to remove it.  With a corset you use what is called "negative ease" it's smaller than you are.  Here's the original corset:

It was reversible and I wasn't happy about the pattern not matching up.  

So much wiser I made another, out of the pretty princess fabric above and changed the entire look that I had envisioned. I know, I know! Get to the tutorial. 

Items needed

Small straw hat

Fabric ( I used scraps)

Trim

Scissors

Glue gun

Curved needle

Upholstery thread

Sewing machine

Wired ribbon (optional)

Jeweled button (optional) 

Felt or flannel

I started with a cheap ($ .99) mini straw hat from Michaels and some pink scraps left over from the front panel on my skirt. 

I cut 2 circles of fabric a half inch wider than the brim then I measured the crown and cut out a slightly smaller circle from the center of my fabric circles. I then sewed the outer edges of the circles together, clipped and turned them right side out and placed the hat within the circles. 

Next, I clipped the inner circle and measured the crown starting at the base across the top to the base and cut another circle to cover the crown. On the underside I also clipped the circle and glued the fabric to the inside of the crown. Then I covered it with a strip of felt glued in place. 

I used a gathering stitch around the edge of the fabric. Then I hot glued the gathered edge where the brim and crown meet. 

Next I used trim around the crown to hide the join, again using my trusty glue gun. I also added trim around the underside of the brim. 

Next I turned up the sides. To hold the brim I used a good bit of hot glue and held it in place until it dried. Then using a curved needle and upholstery thread I hand tacked the brim in place sewing thru all layers, including the straw. 

Repeat turning up the other 2 sides. In the picture above you can see where the trim overlaps, I planned to hide it using some kind of decoration. 

All three sides are done. Yay!  

^^These things happen. Ouch! ^^

Next, I embellished the hat using a 2 inch wide wired ribbon. I used a length that was about 12 inches long and  pulled the wire on one side only to gather it. Then rolled the ribbon until it resembled a flower. I tacked the bottom with thread then added the jeweled button to the center and sewed/glued it to the brim of the hat hiding where the trim was joined.

And the entire outfit: 

Excuse the messy garage, since creating this costume I've had 3 kids grow up and move out of the house so I actually have a spare bedroom and am now sewing in air conditioned comfort! In the future, I plan on making a new chemise for this costume and a proper bodice in case I ever go to Costume College. But seriously, never underestimate the power of a pink corset.

 Here I am at the Faire: 

And since I'm me and I like my costumes with a bit of whimsy, I purchased these socks: 

                                      

I should mention I did the shoes too. I have a photo tutorial just sitting on my computer waiting to be uploaded. 

The cool thing about costuming and being a bit of a pack-rat is this, when Halloween comes along and I've last minute costumed the entire family and haven't made myself anything I can pull pieces together and outfit myself fairly quick. I did this in about 2 hours the night  of our church Halloween party "Trunk or Treat" 

I used the pink corset and chemise. I made a pink sparkly elastic waist skirt out if tulle, the wand was a ribbon wrapped dowel and the star and tooth were made from sparkly craft foam. I also purchased a gold glitter headband and added another tooth to it. The wings I purchased at Disneyland, I mean really, who could resist light up Tinkerbell wings!?! Not me!

Two things before I go, first sorry for the poor picture quality, most of these photos were taken with my old chocolate phone. Second, if you are like me and are done having children and you have a large personal space bubble, DON'T wear a sparkly pink skirt to a church function. I lost track of how many times I felt someone's little chocolate hands patting my skirt and saying "oooo pretty"! That was the last year I dressed pretty. Since then it's been mostly a "zombie" something. 

Cheers, 

Terri

Lost and Found

In 1992 my mother passed away, after suffering for years from angina, high blood pressure, and diabetes not to mention everything my brother and I put her thru raising 2 kids after my father passed away when I was 9. Of course at the time, being the selfish spoiled child I was with only 2 children of my own I could not wait to purge her from my life. Now don't get me wrong, there was plenty of fault on both sides. My mother was a difficult woman, I realized later that she loved babies and adults but didn't like children or teenagers. She was also a product of her generation, she was born into 1911 rural Mexico. Girls were second  class citizens, it was fine for them to work as a maid, nanny or cook. Everything was centered around the son in the family and the sun rose and set on mijo. To top it all off she wasn't my birth mother she was my paternal aunt and I still remembered my birth mother. The story of how and why I was adopted is a story for another time.  Girls did not go to college, they got married. Then they were supposed to have sons to carry the family name. So back to the purge. 

I got rid of quite a few things that just said mama to me, others I held onto but mostly because I had coveted them when she was still alive, namely our old wooden radio, her black wool vintage coat, a vintage dress from 1963 which I'm sorry to say now fits me, again a story for another time and her engagement ring. Hey I have issues but I'm not stupid. One of the things I got rid of was an orange, pedestal free form fruit bowl also from1963. I got rid of it because I saw that bowl every morning I lived in her house. It represented everything that was broken about our family. I once described living at home with my brother and mom as a prisoner of war camp, we were from different countries that were allies but not friends. I was the first to get liberated. So flash forward a few years, I had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I had married into a family that although they have their quirks the love is unconditional and I had also worked on some of my geneology work for my family and taken their names to our Temple.  In doing so I learned that we are all human, we make mistakes, and Our Father in Heaven has forgiven the unforgivable in us so who are we to withhold forgiveness for others? 

In 2000, I started searching for a replacement for the bowl. It became important to me to find it again. I searched garage sales, thrift stores and antique shops. It took me 14 years but I found it! Today, John and I went to lunch in Riverside, we then went to Downtown to walk off lunch and poke around in some of the shops. The last place we went into was the 4-story antique mall. And we started on the top and worked our way down, I finally shared with my hubby my quest for the bowl and my regret in blythely giving it away. So we searched, I tried on vintage hats, we sat on sofas that needed reupholstering, we played with vintage toys, I found a vintage dress form that I would have loved to adopt but her price was a bit steep. Finally we decided to leave and I was again expressing my regret as we left the store, I happened to look to my left in the window and there in the corner was the bowl! I had missed it in my earlier walk thru. Back into the store and twelve dollars later I am now the happy owner of an orange bowl that is identical to the one I gave away. Oh happy day. 

Terri

In Praise of Melanie Hamilton Wilkes

I am a huge fan of the movie "Gone With the Wind". For years, I obsessed over it. I learned how to make corsets because of this movie. I let my mom dress me in a hoop skirt for my first formal because of this movie. I lugged that 1071 page book around and could quote passages from it.  For years I wanted to be Scarlett O'Hara, after all she was the central figure in the story. Two problems with this, one, I did not have a strong female role model during this crucial time in my life, I was eleven, and two, I missed the real heroine in the story, Melanie Wilkes. 

True, Scarlett is dynamic, all the men in the county desire her, she has the smallest waist in 3 counties but she is a selfish being. It takes her until the very end of the story to realize that she needs Melanie, doesn't love Melanie's husband Ashley and see that her true love has been right in front of her for 12 years!  I'm thick but not that thick. 

How often have we wanted something that was totally wrong for us just because we had our heart set on it? As imperfect humans we tend to lean on our own understanding and make choices that we then have to suffer the consequences of. If Scarlett had actually married Ashley at the beginning of the story, I think she would have gotten over her infatuation of him very soon after the Civil War ended and they both would have been miserable ever after. Lesson learned. But no, instead he continues to be the thing she desires until the bitter end until reality in the form of the one person who has loved her all along dies.  Does she ever get Rhett Butler back? Probably not, I don't think he divorces her but he treats her with kindness. I think she finally became a better mother and a nicer person to those around her but that's it. I think she was alone the rest of her life. 

So back to Melanie, at the beginning of the story, we learn as does Scarlett, that Ashley is engaged to his cousin Melanie Hamilton. Scarlett being Scarlett can't decide what to wear for their first meeting  in the story and ascribes to Melanie her own catty personality traits. Instead, we are privy to Melanie complimenting Scarlett to her cousins about her vivacity and high spirits and pointing out that it's understandable that the men would flock to her. Later when Scarlett makes the first of her multitude of bad choices, marrying of all people Charles Hamilton, Melanie's reaction is to welcome her into the family and rejoice because they are now "true sisters". During the war, Scarlett's outrageous behavior brings down all sorts of censure and Melanie steadfastly defends her. When the wounded are brought to be nursed, Scarlett is sickened by their suffering, Melanie nurses them gladly. The only reason that Scarlett takes Melanie to Tara  during Sherman's invasion of Atlanta? She had promised Ashley to look after Melanie, if not Scarlett would have left her to her own devices and run screaming from the house. While at Tara, a deserter from the North attempts to rob the plantation and rape Scarlett. Scarlett shoots him but Melanie is willing to endanger her own life by rising from her sick bed grabbing her brother's sword to defend Scarlett when she hears the shot. She then covers for Scarlett by telling the others on the plantation who come running that Scarlett had been cleaning a gun and it went off. Scarlett is more impressed with Melanie's quick lie than she is with her willingness to defend her. 

After the war, Melanie feeds the soldiers making their way home while Scarlett begrudges them every mouthful until Melanie points out that she hopes Ashley is receiving food and help on his way home. During reconstruction, it's more of the same, Scarlett to her credit, starts a business and supports her family but her underlying motive is always to keep Ashley close. She is caught embracing Ashley by his sister and her friend, Melanie's reaction when she is told by her sister-in-law? Disbelief. She orders Ashley's sister India from the house and points out to her that she and her son would not be alive if it were not for Scarlett. 

Scarlett throughout the entire story believes that Melanie is a fool.  But is she? Melanie, is a kind soul, with no malice or guile. She is a character that is comparable to Jane Bennett in "Pride and Prejudice", she is so pure of spirit that she can conceive of only good in those she loves. She is a fierce defender of her loved ones and as Rhett Butler points out to an oblivious Scarlett, one who possesses true bravery. Her death at the end of Gone With the Wind is the most tragic death in a story full of tragic deaths. It is in this moment that Scarlett finally realizes that she loved Melanie more than her own sisters and that she depended on her quiet strength more than she realized. I like to believe that in finally learning this lesson, Scarlett spent the rest of her life trying to emulate Melanie. 

Quiet strength is not a trait that everyone possesses. Some of us are vocal in our laments about the tragedies that befall us. Some of us think that we are only strong by bullying others. I remember a particular individual I worked with that believed this. He would use his size to intimidate those of us who were smaller. I understand that in the last few years his personality had undergone a change and he was no longer a bully. If his Facebook page at the time of his recent and untimely death is any indication I have to believe he had changed.  

The reason for this post? I came across the above picture and it struck me how underrated a character Melanie is, so is Jane Bennett. Another character with that same quiet strength is Samwise Gamgee, the difference is that Jane and Sam's qualities are acknowledged by those closest to them. While thinking on Melanie and her qualities I kept thinking about this scripture:

10  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. 

Most people remember the above scripture but here is the rest of it: 

11 The heart of her husband doth safelytrust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

14 She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

18 She perceiveth that her merchandise isgood: her candle goeth not out by night.

19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household areclothed with scarlet.

22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it;and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread ofidleness.

28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain:but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

-Proverbs 31:10-31

So lesson learned, the character to admire? Melanie Hamilton Wilkes the unsung heroine of Gone With the Wind not Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler the only thing I want to emulate from her is her ability to wear a corset and hoop skirt and not look like a walking igloo! 

Cheers,

Terri

I Am Completely Blessed

If you haven't met him, this is my husband John. 

He is the love of my life and my best friend. He buys me shoes just because. He plans outings to museums that have exhibits that don't interest him because he knows I will.  When I used to work full time he would send me cards and flowers to let me know he loved me.  Everything he does, he does out of love for me, for example: we were dropping off our oldest son Andrew at BYU-Idaho and he drove from Idaho Falls, where we had overnighted, to Rexburg, Idaho then from Rexburg to St. George, Utah all because I think he knew I was uncomfortable driving on icy roads and among the spectacularly bad drivers we encountered yesterday. This morning it was more of the same, he drove to Nevada/California state line and finally let me kick it in across the desert. The pathetic part is, I'm in worse shape just having driven that little bit, so what does this man do? Fills the tub and let's me soak in it while he starts the laundry. I'm telling you, I have the BEST husband in the World. Love you Sweetie. 

Me and #1 son at the beginning of my husbands long drive.