Making A Boho pirate hat

This thing took an incredible amount of work, and detailing, and problem solving... altho' it's rather simple stuff... like ULTRA simple, it just takes TIME and patience.

I need to get some better starch to iron the thing... cause the ruffles are too flimsy...

 Yeah, it's way out there, and eye catching.

Everyone wants to try it on, or borrow it!

So, do I look wickedly decedent yet bohemian yet? 

 Not the best, clearest photos from my smartphone... but, whatever...

 Some old bronze-ish yellow colored fabrics from my step-mother...
Cut into strips, sewn together, then, sewn ribbons on...

 Ruffles!

Boho Hat

So, I got this hat.... it was an unsold hat from either my store, or our business partner's store... 1 or the other, no one can even remember...I've been into the Boho Chic thing for a LONG time... and yet again, I'm all obsessed with it.... if you follow my pinterest profile, you'll see my multiple pinboards...

Anyways, I had the hat, and I wore it to the lake (the one I STILL want to do a cosplay pirate shoot at, but haven't had the convenience, nor the freedom, to do so yet) and realized it wasn't very good at blocking the sun. It's got these huge holes woven into it.

It's made of Chinese paper. I think u can buy it on spools at basket/crafting stores. It's also handwoven. I can tell.

 And, it's Made in China...

It also had seashells & crystals glued onto a string around the hat, but not done very well...

 Here I am at the lake in Weymouth.

It's called Whitman's pond.

See????

Not so great at blocking the sun!

Got a scalp sunburn!

So, I grabbed my bags of ribbon spools and started weaving ribbons into the hat...

And, next thing I knew, it became more intricate.

I wasn't intending for the whole thing to be monochromatic purple, but that's what happened.

I also didn't know I had so many varieties of purple ribbons!

I also used some black ribbons as well.

It was VERY tedious!

I had to use a chopstick to weave the ribbon into it.

Here it is with just the to art done.

And, here's the back...

I kind just went with it on this hat. i didn;t know what this artistic project wanted to be, exactly, yet...

I ONLY had a kind of feeling...

So, I just kept going until I felt satisfied...

My daughter kept stealing it too...

 Took the hat with me to Cape Cod (Yarmouth) while it was still in the works... not quite done...

 I'd just gone swimming... so, I'm all wet...

Yes, I'm on the playground pirate ship thingy at Colonial Acres.

But... anyways... I kept feeling it was unfinished... and has some feeling of a sense that I wanted/needed to do something more with it... but, what???

But, while I was researching DIY BOHO hats, I found THIS gorgeous character! 

She reminds me of the kool kinda folks I like to hang with in Philadelphia. ^_^

Here's her post about it if you want to read it. 


Next thing I knew I found a bunch of other such similar hats on Etsy...

So, I thought: OK!

Let's turn this mutha out! (90s reference XD -yeah... it's true... I'm a dork IRL.)

So, I took it, and made it a pirate hat.

I'll show some more in my next blog post...

Blue Choli Bodice I Made 2010

I often wear this in my Pirate Costume, but You can also wear it for bellydance, clubbing, whatever.

It's made from an old Chinese dudou that I bought in Flushing Chinatown New York (2002). But, it was so poorly made that there was no use in fixing it, since I'd fixed it multiple times.

So, I made this!

 I didn't have a pattern. I just "felt y way" through the process of making it.

Sounds like psychic sewing! LOL!

The back was from an old Chinese fusion top I'd bought at the Cherry Hill Mall in NJ way back in 2003.

Same deal, poorly made, cheap plastic fiber fabric.  It's machine embroidered with a "feng huan" (often translated as "Chinese Phoenix").

The inside lining is real vintage 1970s silk from China.