Project: refurbishing straw hats
Feb. 21st, 2007 01:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labricoleuseFor our next mainstage production, a dramatic adaptation of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, we are using a number of vintage period hats, many of which are straw. Most people know that steam will help reshape a dented straw hat; this post covers a couple other tricks for repairing and freshening them up.
Pictured above are two of the hats we are using. Both have a spiral braid construction, meaning that a long narrow braid of straw has been stitched together in a spiral to form the shapes of the hats. (The hat on the right has sections of lace pieced into the brim.) The straw has grown extremely brittle and dry from age, and the hats are starting to break apart where the braid is seamed to itself.
One technique that can be used to rejuvenate dried-out old straw is a damp towel wrap. Put an old towel in the washer and run it through a rinse cycle. Let the washer spin out the water from the chamber, but stop the spin cycle as soon as the water's spun out so that the towel remains fairly wet.
Place the towel over a large bowl and make a depression for the hat crown.
Set the hat in the bowl.
Cover it gently with the towel.
Make sure it is completely enclosed, and let it sit overnight.
This will restore some pliability to the straw.
To repair a torn portion of a straw hat, make a patch from several layers of sturdy netting in a matching color, like so:
Then use a thin needle to patch it, taking care to slide it between the weave instead of stabbing it through the pieces of straw.
Pictured above are two of the hats we are using. Both have a spiral braid construction, meaning that a long narrow braid of straw has been stitched together in a spiral to form the shapes of the hats. (The hat on the right has sections of lace pieced into the brim.) The straw has grown extremely brittle and dry from age, and the hats are starting to break apart where the braid is seamed to itself.
One technique that can be used to rejuvenate dried-out old straw is a damp towel wrap. Put an old towel in the washer and run it through a rinse cycle. Let the washer spin out the water from the chamber, but stop the spin cycle as soon as the water's spun out so that the towel remains fairly wet.
Place the towel over a large bowl and make a depression for the hat crown.
Set the hat in the bowl.
Cover it gently with the towel.
Make sure it is completely enclosed, and let it sit overnight.
This will restore some pliability to the straw.
To repair a torn portion of a straw hat, make a patch from several layers of sturdy netting in a matching color, like so:
Then use a thin needle to patch it, taking care to slide it between the weave instead of stabbing it through the pieces of straw.
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Date: 2007-03-12 07:47 pm (UTC)Thanks for the link! I've not yet tried making a knit hat in a specific shape for felting but that is a good idea to give a go. I'll check to see if my library has/can get that book it sounds perfect. I'm interested in making all types of hats so something more all encompassing like that would really get my little mind spinning I'm sure.
Thanks for taking the time to make suggestions I really appreciate it! Sammy