Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

It's definitely a "little" book but it has some interesting information. I will get my money's worth.

This book lives up to the title in that it certainly is little. That's the only positive aspect of it. The few techniques described were worthless - they actually are harder than just using correct millinery techniques. A significant amount of space was wasted on illustrations of tacky end-products in the gist of "HAY! U CAN DECORATE YOUR HAT THIS WAY! BUT WAIT! IT LOOKS DIFFERENT IF YOU ADD A LACE RUFFLE!"