Making a Brimmed Hat: Attaching the Crown and Brim (& Finishing the Hat!)

Well hello there! It took me a little while to finally finish up my most recent millinery project, I've been a busy bee lately! Today I'll be going over how I finished putting the hat together once the crown and brim have been covered with fabric individually. 

Once you have covered the pieces of the hat, it is simply a matter of stitching the crown onto the cut tabs of the brim.

To hold the crown and brim together while I sew them together, I pin from the outside in through the corner while holding the two pieces together like you see below.

Above you can see what the pinning looks like from the outside.

Now simply stab stitch through the many layers to stitch the crown and brim together. That's it? Yes, and oddly it ends up feeling quite secure.

Of course then there are visible stitches on the outside of the stand, but of course you will be tacking on a ribbon right? Yes indeed, I've gone for a tiny velvet ribbon in this case.

What about the inside? Well officially you should stitch in a lining, I usually do a lazy lining of a circle of silk larger than the crown opening gathered in place and stitched along the edge. Over this lining you will stitch in the petersham head ribbon, or if you are really really lazy like me you can skip the lining (...yep) and just sew in the ribbon.

 
Then we have reached the very best part of hat making, decorating the hat! I had this vintage wide striped ribbon I bought just for decorating a hat such as this, and it dominates the shape for sure. I decided to pinch the ribbon into a sort of butterfly shape and I love how it came out!

I hope you all enjoyed watching this hat come together, I am certainly excited to wear it! I need more 1940s dresses to wear all of my hats with :)