Description

A fancy fascinator / cocktail hat, lovingly handstitched from thick velvety red wool felt and accented with lots of lovely sparkly beads.

The hat measures approx 7 x 5 inches, and has a loop of narrow black elastic to hold it in place.

Materials:
- An old red 100% wool sweater given to me by a neighbour when it accidentally shrunk in the wash. I shrank it some more, turning an unwanted (and unwearable) garment into gorgeous wool felt.
- Small sparkly beads from two bracelets last worn when I was about 17 (a long time ago!) and no longer loved.
- Black craft felt, thread and elastic all left over from other projects.

Inspiration:
I was very much inspired by the red wool felt - the felting process turned an ordinary everyday cosy jumper into quite a luxurious material with a rich velvety texture. I wanted to take this a step further and create a special statement piece suitable for glamourous occasions far removed from the jumper's former life!

Process:
I cut out two ovals of black craft felt to form the base of my hat, then cut lots of individual flower shapes of different sizes from the wool felt and layered them to make the flowers. I stitched them in place on one of the ovals with black thread, and added some small discs of the red felt to fill any gaps. I then added the beads - each flower has approximately 19 beads sewn in the centre. Finally I added the elastic and stitched the second oval to the base for a neat finish.