I’ve taken a recent interest in head-coverings to really bring a costume together. To that end I’ve sewn Jake a poofy men’s hat. This is a very classic example of a hat you’d see throughout western Europe during the renaissance, though his is a bit more flamboyant in fabric than some historical examples.
I had a Simplicity pattern to work with and we didn’t make hardly any modifications for once. Other than I usually skip the interfacing when working with a fabric on the stiff-side. The shape is quite simple. A round, not-quite-full-circle brim, facing and lining, and a giant circle gathered on the edges for the top. The brim fabric matches a hood and vest that I’ve made for Jake in the past, and the lining also matches that same vest which I’ll be writing about next week.
The fabric of the top is a brocade from the stash. Very fancy indeed. The pattern suggested a feather in the hat, but that doesn’t seem very durable long-term, so we opted instead to assemble a broach and sew it on by hand.
The hat made its debut at the 2023 Connecticut Renaissance Faire and received many compliments!
