The Little Hatmaking Book: A Workbook on Turn-Of-The-Century Hats [Paperback]

Bonnie Ambrose (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 51 pages
• Publisher: Drama Publishers (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896761266
• ISBN-13: 978-0896761261
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 3.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars very basic hatmaking only for turn of century, March 21, 2000

By 

allison taylor (orange county, california) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Little Hatmaking Book: A Workbook on Turn-Of-The-Century Hats (Paperback)

Less information than the bodice and corset workbooks, for those who are familiar with the author. This book focuses on turn-of-the-century women's hat shapes: wide brim and shaped sweetheart brim. Author lists fabric/notion requirements and provides numerous b/w illustrations to walk you through basic hat-building technique. Geared to very basic hats, which you can put together with a home sewing machine and glue. Maybe even too basic - info hardly fills one side of each page. Trim instructions cover gathered tulle ruffles and bows, fabric roses, big bows, and ostrich plumes. I would like to see expanded trim info, principally more complex ribbon decorations, other feather types, maybe even stuffed birds and veiling. Since hats of this time period were such a huge fashion statement, I don't feel the book adequately covers the construction possibilities. But if you need to build a basic hat and don't want to take a class or buy a wood block, this is your best option. Would be perfect for the school drama department that needs to produce dozens of hats for a period production. If you're entering a costume masquerade or have ambitions toward serious millinery, you really should look for Albrizio's Classic Millinery Techniques instead.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A place to start, March 29, 2008

By 

Karen Tiede (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Little Hatmaking Book: A Workbook on Turn-Of-The-Century Hats (Paperback)

It's tiny, and it's printed on one side of the page only, and it doesn't cost ANYTHING, so if you want a large-brimmed Victorian style hat, or perhaps a crownless sweetheart hat, or you think you might like to make a hat any hat and have no clue where to start, this is a good place to jump in.

Given my propensity to spend $$$$ on the how-to and then not follow through, I went for this book, and it meets my needs exactly. I have the fashion fabric I want to use; BHA tells me what else I need to put it together and make a hat that looks respectable. Wouldn't have thought to put darts in the brim on my own.

If and when I do make this hat, and if I decide the effort was worth it and I want more, I may well step up to the complete millenary book noted above in a different review. Until then, I'm not out much $ at all and I have massively adjusted my own "figure it out somehow" ideas about what goes into a big pretty hat.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great "Little" Book, November 2, 1999

By 

Nancy E. Provoncha (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Little Hatmaking Book: A Workbook on Turn-Of-The-Century Hats (Paperback)

There's lots of info in this little book! From patterns and how-to-dos to designing ideas. A must for costume and doll clothing designers!