I Want the Queen's Hat!!!

Did anybody else watch the wedding? I got up an hour too late to watch it the first time around...I am willing to get up at 4:30 AM each and every morning, but 3:00 AM is just asking way too much!

Tessie came in and watched the tail end. Then she insisted on looking at some of the lady's fashions on the net.

When we got to Queen Elizabeth's yellow outfit, Tessie looked me straight in the eye and said in an imperious voice...."I must have the Queen's hat!"

I explained to her, "There is no way that hat will fit over your bun. You will have to take your hair down if you want to wear a hat like that."

She just hissed, "I want the Queen's hat!"

Rather than argue with her, I simply told her that I didn't have any yellow silk....I thought that would end the whole thing.

She disappeared. When she came back, she was holding a piece of yellow cotton. It was sprigged with tiny ochre flowers.

I said, "This will never do. The Queen's hat is plain yellow silk."

"Turn it over." she ordered.

Leave it to her to find plain yellow on the back side of a piece of fabric. She informed me that cotton would do in a pinch.

Luckily, it is a very, very simple hat. Don't tell her that! Thank goodness she didn't want any of the other ones....Did you see some of those things hanging off of the sides of women's heads? I don't see how they could walk upright and still keep them in place!

Anyway, here's the pattern if you want your own version of the queen's head wear. I used plain old index cards as the basis for the hat.

The brim is a 1 7/8" ring with a 3/4" center cut out of it. The side piece is straight up and down. 2 1/4" by 1/2".

I covered the crown piece and pinked the edges, wrapping them to the back with glue. If you want to be fancy and line it, simply cut another piece the same size as the pattern and glue it over the back. The same goes for the other pieces. Trim flush with the edges if needed.

The half inch strip gets the top and ends of the fabric bent over with mitered corners and glued to the back.
The bottom edge of the fabric is cut a bit longer and pinked along the edge. This fabric is to glue inside and under the hat brim.

The brim is covered the same way as the crown. Cut the center fabric into about 8 wedges and wrap them to the other side with glue and do the same with the outer edge, pinked and glued. Don't forget to cut a piece to the size of the pattern to put on the underside. Glue that piece on last.

I looked on the net and the description of the flowers on the side are yellow roses with peach colored petals. I used some French variegated ribbon to make the roses and plain peach silk ribbon for the leaves. I covered the seams with matching yellow bunka.

When I was finished, Tessie took one look at it and said...."Thanks. That will look great in my closet....What?". Then she announced, "Surely you didn't think that I was going to change hairdos just for a silly hat!"

She flounced off to the closet and the last I saw of her, she was carefully trying it on each shelf. She insists that HER hat is the original. The Queen's is a copy.....

I am going away now and ignore the Royal pain....

See you tomorrow.