I just got a copy of Saturday Night Hat, by Eugenia Kim, a book about making hats. Hats. People don't really make hats much. You can knit a hat, but sewing hats? I think this millinery thing has been horribly overlooked in this new wave of craft-mania, and I am so happy to see this information come out. I love hats (like bonnets and earflap hats, of course) and have always wanted to take a millinery class, but never have. . .
and don't really know if I need to now. This book covers basic hat shapes with really unique/funny/crazy ideas. It's all very Dada with a 1970s Joni Mitchel twist, (You can't see it from these photos, but trust me.)
There are patterns and also tips on how to use existing hat hoods (pre-made felt hat forms- there is a good materials/resource section in the back) along with adding trim to vintage hats. The trim ideas I get really excited about.
This page is all about making this butterfly out of feathers. Very cool. There is a hat glossary and the directions seem clear and easy to read. I think I might try the basic cloche first. I am excited to use up some the vast amounts of trims I have been hoarding.
There is a lot of good millinery information in here. I think, for me personally, this will be more of a reference book than a make-every-hat-pattern book. Having really studied all the hat designs in here, many of the hats I would not wear, but. . . many I would. The trim info and feather ideas are really cool, and just reading how to make hats, of any style, is really fascinating to me.
To me, the best thing about this book is that it's about making your own hats, you know? That is huge. And I love how ballsy and out-there some of the designs are, like a hello kitty cocktail hat and a pillbox hat that looks like a piece of toast. It takes a special type of person to wear a toast hat on their head (or a special type of alcohol) and I just think it's great these designs are in a book.
Okay, I will spare you all to awful hat/head puns I have been tempted to end with and just stop writing now.
