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Permalink Reply by Bridget Early February 5, 2013 at 5:57am

I stitch mine on the hat as well.  If I have a flower that is troublesome, I add the flower first and then any other decorations after to make sure that the flower sits well and stitching is hidden. But, that doesn't mean it is any less of a puzzle. That is part of the fun, and is what gives the hat its own personality.

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Permalink Reply by Elaine Mergard February 6, 2013 at 9:30am

Well said Bridget.

In lessons I talk about "fillers" - something that tucks behind the trim feature to hide base of flower or feather spike or stitching. I have a bag of feather bits that I draw on for this purpose. Sometimes just an added loop & the original trim concept improves. 

As a minimalist myself I find it difficult to add extras but I have proved over the  years that the buying public has attitude that volume = value ....so I just add extras as needed as it is all about sales.

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Permalink Reply by Bridget Early February 6, 2013 at 12:47pm

I know what you mean, Elaine.  When making a hat for myself, I tend to go small and minimal, but when making to sell, I generally add a little extra.  In fact, I just finished stitching a leather flower to a hat that I was inclined to leave with just a silk band and loop. After studying the hat a few minutes, I decided customers might want a little more.

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Permalink Reply by Dianne Graham February 27, 2013 at 11:20am

I do keep lots of feathers around for hiding, just the other day I wanted to add a single simple rose, it sat up too high to use without having to add stuff. I usually cut the stem off as close to the flower as possible, I sew the leaves on separately using them to hide as well but so many times I wish the flower was flatter

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Permalink Reply by Adrienne M Bennett June 22, 2017 at 9:24pm

Diane I dont like it when flowers stick out. I usually sew a pin on the back so the flower will lean into the hat. If I need to I curl the stem to give it a finished look rather than letting it just hang there, I also add florist tape to my stems as I like the look of that better than plastic or just wire. I too wish flowers were flatter.

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Permalink Reply by Sharon Panozzo June 26, 2017 at 4:58am

I stitch mine on the hats but sometimes I first stich them on crinoline that I have colored the same color as the hat.  When I get everything sewn onto the crinoline, I cut it very close to the stitching and then stitch to the hat.  I like this method when there would be a lot of stitching to do because there is actually less chance to see the stitching from the inside if the hat is not lined.

I don't know if this would help with getting the flower flatter or not because I am one who likes big and bold which means lots of fillers.  Since I do a lot of Victorian reproductions that need lots of "stuff" to look original, it is not usually a problem for me.

My fillers include feathers but also veiling, crin, ribbon, and smaller flowers and leaves.

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Permalink Reply by LynnT91 November 18, 2023 at 6:12am

Looks like you got some great advice already but I'd use a hot glue gun. It works and leave no visible signs of attachment. Just make sure if you hot glue flowers onto your hat that you choose a hat you won't regret modifying. I know hot glue works because I had landscapers come and plant new flowers in my yard and when they were done I took the old flowers, tried them out and glued them to plastic tree to make the tree look alive. Through wind and rain, the flowers are still stuck to the plastic tree. So it works!

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