Choosing and Using Free Vintage Hat Patterns

For today's guest post (while Tony and I continue our exciting holiday to Edmonton), I'm sincerely honoured to have none other than my good friend Tanith Rowan - whose incredible millinery work you may remember from such CV posts as this & this - sharing some of her vast, inspiring knowledge on how to select and use free vintage hat patterns with all of you.

Even if you're not a sewer, if - like me - you go weak in the knees for old school chapeaus, chances are this delightful guest post (which I want to sincerely thank Tanith - be sure to swing by her beautiful Etsy shop - for writing) will be right up your alley.

 
Vintage magazines and newspapers are one of my favourite places to find inspiration and information, and I love researching hats this way. While doing so, I was stumbling on the occasional free hat pattern, and I was keen to try them out.

After my first attempt went quite well, I wanted to do more, and started a project to make and review the free patterns I found on Trove, the online database of the National Library of Australia. So far I have completed six hats and am working on my seventh right now. It hasn't been easy, (in fact, it has been extremely frustrating at times!) but I'm getting better at working through the maze of brief and vague instructions, pattern drafting and mysterious terminology.

So what have I learned about using free vintage hat patterns? Below are some tips for working through each stage of the process, but overall I've found that the most important things are to be willing to experiment and to trust your common sense and experience.

(1939 Doll's Hat )

 

Finding and selecting your pattern

I have been specifically searching one online archive database but there are many other places to look. Using a search engine may turn up some good results but it can sometimes be hard to narrow the search to what you want. Searching on Pinterest is often good, because it is a place where people often share free pattern resources, and you may find people have boards specifically for free vintage patterns or even free hat patterns.

The best terms to search for will depend on where you are searching. If you are using Pinterest, for example, the pinner will often have used descriptive terms for the pin or the board, so searching for “free vintage hat pattern” will get you somewhere, and modern terms like “DIY” and “tutorial” will yield results too.

When searching a database, the terms that come up will be those from the original article, so although “pattern” is still good, also consider “instructions” “directions” “how to” “make at home” “make this hat” and so on. Once I started to find patterns, I looked at what expressions they were using in the title and text, and added those to my list of search terms.

If you already know what era you are looking for, use this information to guide your search. You can include the decade when using a search engine or Pinterest (although keep in mind not everyone knows what they are talking about), and a database may have an advanced search option to narrow down the results to a specific date range.

With a style in mind, try searching for that too, and try multiple options if the style has a few names it might be known by.

(1949 Pixie Hat)

When choosing a pattern to try, keep in mind where and how you will wear the hat, and with what (unless, like me, you are making hats for the fun of it and as a learning experience). Some of the hats you will find are distinctly dressy, others more casual, some very wearable with modern clothes, other distinctly “vintage”.

The reality is, that I wouldn't wear many of these hats myself, and maybe that is true for you too, so be critical and sensible about your style and wardrobe needs. I adored the 1949 pixie hat, but I honestly wouldn't wear it as is. I'm still working on tweaks for that pattern, but one thing I did was scale it down – it makes an adorable toddler hat!

Also look at the images critically. How accurate is that illustration likely to be? How much of the appeal of the photo is in the styling and how much is the hat itself? How will it look with your hair and make-up (or not) and outfits? The 1954 scarf hat really has nothing going for it without the whole look being in place, and the illustration for the 1934 “Vagabond Beret” had an illustration that led a lot of people to think it would look completely different!

(1949 Pixie Hat for a toddler)

Drafting Patterns

One of the more frustrating parts! Many will be on a grid for you to enlarge, which is slow but at least allows accuracy. If you don't care to draw up a 1-inch grid, you can find and download 1-inch grid paper online and print it out. Just make sure they print at the true size. I usually start drawing with the key points and straight lines, then draw in the curves.

They are often hand drawn in the original diagram and rarely symmetrical, even if they probably should be! You can choose to fix these things up if it matters to you. It bothered me a lot when I started and now I'm embracing asymmetry a bit more.

Without a grid, you may need to use a bit of mathematics. If that isn't your strong suit – just ask for help! A bit of knowledge about the measurements of circles will go a long way. Hopefully all the necessary measurements are given, but you may sometimes not have every detail and just have to do your best to make it look like the original! As I said, it's frustrating.

(1954 Scarf Hat)

You may need to adjust the size. For the 1954 scarf hat, I ended up making three versions because it was so small, and then I just assumed my changes would be enough. It would have been worth doing a bit more checking on the pattern before continuing.

One way to do this, which I tried with the 1934 “Vagabond Beret” to save myself heartache, is to draw the stitching lines on to your pattern, I.e. measure the seam allowance in from each edge (and now is a good time to mention that they rarely tell you what seam allowance, if any, is included).

Measure the head-size part of the stitching line and compare it to your head measurement, remembering to include some ease (approximately 1 cm should be sufficient) and to measure your head where the hat will actually sit.

(1934 Vagabond Beret)

Modern vs Vintage Materials

Luckily a lot of the hat patterns available will be for sewn fabric hats, and although they might use unusual fabrics, you can usually look them up online and find out what type of modern fabric is equivalent.

One thing that often comes up is sparterie or esparterie, which is a stiff foundation material traditionally made from willow. There are modern versions of sparterie being made, but I haven't personally used them, and I generally substitute millinery buckram instead. If you aren't sure what to use, try something and see!

The earlier the pattern, the more likely it is to use materials that are unusual and unknown to most of us now. Earlier patterns also seem to be the least detailed and make the most assumptions about your skills and knowledge of millinery and sewing in general. I generally find that patterns from the 1940s onwards make a lot of sense to me, but sometimes I can't make head or tail of earlier ones.

(The 1953 Scarf Hat almost beat me)

Construction

Be ready to use some trial-and-error!
 
Vintage patterns, especially those squeezing into a small space in a magazine, are not going to give you a lot of detail. If, like me, you are used to working with modern patterns that spell everything out, an instruction that simply says “join brim to crown”, might be intimidating. This is common, and even more so for attaching trims. The instructions often finish with fabulous sentences like “Trim with veil and a feather.”

But you know what? It's because it doesn't really matter how you do it. I'm definitely someone who wants to know the “right way”, but the right way is the one that you like, that works, and that is neat enough to meet your own standards.

(1953 Scarf Hat)

Read everything through before you start. Firstly, it will prepare you for those vague instructions and secondly it will help you make a good fabric choice. In the 1949 pixie hat pattern, for example, the fabric for the brim had to have some stretch or give, because the construction process involved stretching it over the buckram brim to fit. I had to start again on that one because I didn't check that detail and my fabric wasn't able to stretch.

Be prepared to make a first test version, especially if you want to use an expensive fabric. The size of a hat doesn't have to be far off before fit is a problem, and with vague instructions, it is all too easy to make a mistake.

Remember to trust your common sense and your own judgement. When in doubt about what you are supposed to be doing, keep the end goal in mind, keep looking at the pictures and nudge things in that direction when necessary!

Have patience, and if needs be, throw it across the room and leave it there for a week.

(1954 Butterfly Cap)

I hope I haven't made it sound like a dreadful task that no one should attempt.

Despite the difficulties, there are some great patterns out there and working them out is an adventure with big rewards.

♥ Tanith

Embellishing a Hat to Suit Your Style

Hi everyone! My name is Nicole and I run The Artyologist, a blog about vintage, sewing, fashion, lifestyle, and art. I've been following Chronically Vintage for a few years now, so I was thrilled when Jessica asked me to write a guest post for her while she is on holidays (to Edmonton)!

I love vintage style, and have worn it for about five years now. However, I have a confession: I don't own many real vintage garments! I mostly rely on what I can alter or make myself, adding in accessories to get a vintage-style look.

Many of my "vintage" garments are actually ones that I have sewn myself, or are thrift store finds that I have changed up in some way in order to look vintage, whether that means adding embellishments, changing buttons, hemming to a better length or altering to fit.

The sad, but true, reality of vintage is that there is a finite amount of it left in the world. Does this mean that those who can't afford or find true vintage have to miss out on this wonderful fashion style, though?

No way! Just as with any other trend or style, as in centuries past, women have made for themselves what they couldn't afford or find, and in my wardrobe, I live by this principle today too, "vintageifying" things so they fit my style.

Hats are great accessories for really pulling an outfit together, but sometimes it can be hard to find good hats that are not in disrepair (shattered veils, in-washable stains, moth holes...) and putting together a hat collection, when a hat that is in good shape costs a lot, is just not feasible for many of us vintage lovers.

This is why, in recent months, I have turned to refashioning hats: so I can get that vintage look, without spending a lot. (And it is also why I am seriously regretting getting rid of those hats I didn't like, instead of altering them! Save yourself- don't do that!)

I picked up this little black hat for a song, earlier this spring, from an antique store, along with a couple other hats that really needed some help. I remember seeing this hat a few years ago in West Edmonton Mall (I recognized the label) so I know that this hat is not actually vintage.

When I saw it new, a few years ago, I thought the embellishment on it was soooo boring, that I passed on it, thinking that, although it would be a good starting point for a refashioned hat, the price wasn't worth it.

However, when I saw it for sale second hand, in good condition and at a much better price point than it was new, I picked it up thinking, like Lydia from Pride and Prejudice, "Look here, I have bought this bonnet. I do not think it is very pretty; but I thought I might as well buy it as not. I shall pull it to pieces as soon as I get home, and see if I can make it up any better."

Soon after buying this hat, I came across this image from Philip Treacy's Autumn/Winter 2015 collection, and fell in love with it. (In case you are wondering who Philip Treacy is, he is a UK milliner who designs hats for the Royal Family.)

Go and look at his hats- they are jaw droppingly gorgeous!  ) I absolutely love this hat: it is so outrageous and over the top, and really what's not to love about mint?

As soon as I saw it, I started thinking about how I could make something similar, and I decided that a large flower on my black hat would be just the thing. So, here is how I created the flower, and how I styled the finished hat for a 1940's look.

I decided to make the flower out of chiffon, as we happened to have scads of it left over from a past project. You could use stiffer organza too- which would give you a rounder pompom shape, or tulle or netting, which would be softer. I cut out a ton of circles, 5 inches in diameter.

You will need 30-50 circles depending on the material and stiffness, and how full you want the flower to be. Don't worry about being too precise, as the edges will be melted and the pieces will be gathered for the final flower. And definitely do cut your circles through several layers at once, to save yourself time!

I didn't want the fabric to fray to pieces, so I decide to finish the edges by singeing them. Singe the fabric by CAREFULLY holding the material over a candle until the edges start to melt and curl. Be very careful with this! You are literally holding a meltable material over top of a flame!

You will need to hold the fabric about 6 inches away from the flame and slowly dip in and out and across so the heat starts to curl it. You don't need to bring the fabric too close, otherwise the heat will start melting the whole circle, rather than just the edge. (Voice of experience. . . )

Once you have singed the fabric, you will be left with curled lily pad shaped petals. Take a circle and fold it into quarters. Stitch through the corner of the folded piece, catching all 4 layers, and loop to tie a knot so it won't pull through the fabric.

Continue to string together the folded circles using the same method, until the flower is at your desired fullness. Once you get a fuller shape, you can gather some of the centre petals so they are fuller, as the soft fabric likes to "flop".

If your fabric is stiffer you can continue stringing until you get a pompom shape. For mine, with the soft chiffon, I gathered the entire flower together in my hand and stitched through the entire bottom of the flower to give it some shape. Really just play around with the fabric and arrange it into a nice shape.- there isn't really a hard and fast method.

Sew a button, a bead, a stuffed piece of fabric, or really anything in the centre. I did this, because my chiffon was too soft to form a pompom. However, like I said before, if your fabric is stiffer, just keep adding to it and you will get a lovely round shape and won't need a button at all. Also, I ended up switching out to a black button in the end, instead of the silver one pictured.


Sew a little round felt disk to the bottom, to keep the flower in shape. If possible, do not glue the flower onto your hat! I have other hats which have been hot glued, and it is just nasty to try and fix later on. Sew it onto the hat with cotton, or other natural fibre, thread.

Don't use a polyester blend thread, as over time polyester can cut natural fibres, and you will be left with a hat full of holes. You could also add a brooch pin to the flower, instead of sewing it directly to the hat, so it is removable.

And that is it!

This hat was so completely and utterly boring to start with. They really had a good thing going with the veil and the leaves. . . and then it's like they ran out of ideas, so they just plunked a little brooch on top. (At least it was removable so now, not only do I have a hat, I also have a brooch!)

I don't even have a before picture of this hat on my head, because it was severely unflattering. However, the giant pompom like flower in Philip Treacy's hat, is really what this hat was missing.

Mine turned out a lot smaller than I was planning, and less poufy, but I think it totally works for the style of the hat, and I really like it. By simply adding some embellishment, this hat is now completely revitalized and it will be a great addition to my winter wardrobe.

I've paired it here with an 80s does 40s dress, and some retro accessories, which makes it look quite vintage. If I hadn't told you, I bet you wouldn't have known. :)

Well, that's all, and I hope this has inspired you to look at the garments and accessories you have, with an eye towards how to make them work for you.

Maybe it will inspire you to pick up that ugly hat or dress you would usually pass up in the thrift store, and refashion it to become your new favourite piece. Maybe all it needs, like this hat, is a large and obnoxious flower!

♥ Nicole

GIVEAWAY: Win a copy of the wonderful book Decades of Hats from Schiffer Publishing

If you've been following this blog for even a small amount of time, you'll likely know how incredibly wild I am about vintage hats. Big, small, fancy, understated, glam, utilitarian, it doesn't matter, if the words "vintage" and "hat" are in the same sentence, and we're talking about pre-1960s offerings in particular, I'm not just game, chances are, I'm asking about prices! :)

My own hat collection, which seems to grow as if by magic with each passing season, houses over forty family members, most of which get worn at least once a year, with many being frequent players throughout any given month. I've chatted here and elsewhere on the web fairly extensively about my passion for old school chapeaus (such as in this 2012 interview) and am sure it's a something I'll shine the spotlight on again many more times in the future.

Today however, the focus is less on my own hats and thoughts on the subject at large, and more on a seriously charming book all about antique and vintage hats called, rather fittingly, Decades of Hats: 1900s to the 1970s by Sue Nightingale, which was released in 2014 from Schiffer Publishing.





Without a doubt, one of the most frequently asked questions that comes my way - especially from strangers that I encounter when out and about - is some variation of "where does one go to find information on putting together and authentically styling vintage looks". There are many sources from which to learn and be inspired on this front, from the more obvious (movies, photos, museums, etc) to others that might not spring to mind right away, but which are well worth checking out.

Unquestionably one of the finest sources is books: vintage, modern, somewhere in between, so long as they pertain to yesteryear fashions and are historically accurate (or very nearly so), books are unquestionably an amazing source of help and inspiration on this front. They're not just for the vintage newbie alone either by any means. Every time I purchase or receive a new-to-me book that even slightly pertains to the past and contains images relating to fashion, I study them like I'm prepping for the SATs.

That's why I couldn't say yes quickly enough when a friendly rep from Schiffer Publishing offered to send me a copy of Decades of Hats for myself to keep and discuss on my blog, as well to provide a giveaway copy for one lucky Chronically Vintage reader.

This book, though it does include a wonderful introduction and some small notes peppered throughout from author Sue Nightingale, is not a heavy, academic read. In fact, it's very light on text - save for that which appeared in the original catalog pages that it is chock-a-block full of. Housed in this 144 page book you will find over 300 images, culled from authentic vintage sources, all of which focus on the beautiful hats in them.

For those who are familiar with Schiffer's popular "Fashionable Clothes from the ---" series of books, which feature scores of mid-century clothing looks from the pages of the Sears catalog, Decades of Hat follows in much the same vein.

The emphasis through and through here is on genuine early to mid-century images of antique and vintage hats. It is laid out chronologically from oldest to newest, with a small, helpful bit of author impute and plenty to inspire, delight and inform anyone who has the pleasure of flipping through its pages.

Whether you wear vintage hats often or not, if you're a fan of old school fashion - and chances are that if you're reading this blog, that's a heading you fall under - than you will definitely want to enter for your chance to win a copy of Decades of Hats. It's a fun, easy to read, wildly enjoyably book that you find yourself returning to time and time again, for both styling inspiration and the unfettered joy that looking at yesteryear styles themselves never fails to deliver in spades.


How to Enter

There are eight ways to enter this giveaway. You are welcome to do however many of these seven things as you like. Please leave a separate comment for each method of entry that you do so as to increase your odds of winning. Single comments that list multiple forms of entry can only be counted as one entry, so again, please leave a different comment for each method that you enter with (thank you!).


1. Leave a comment below letting me know what your favourite decade or era for vintage hats is.

2. Follow Schiffer Books on Twitter.

3. Tweet about this giveaway, linking to Schiffer Books’ Twitter account and using the hashtag #DecadeofHats in your tweet.

4. Like Schiffer Books on Facebook.

5. Post about this giveaway on Facebook.

6. Sign up for Schiffer Publishing's mailing list.

7. Post about this giveaway on your own blog, linking to both Schiffer Books and this post when you do.

8. Follow (or be an existing follower) of Chronically Vintage on Instagram.


Giveaway Details:

This giveaway is open to participants worldwide. It will run from today's date (May 12, 2015) until Tuesday May 19, 2015 at 11:59 PST. The winner will receive one copy of the book Decades of Hats: 1900s to the 1970s, which will be mailed to them directly from Schiffer Publishing.

I will draw the winning comment using a random number generator and announce the winner on Facebook and/or Twitter shortly after the giveaway has wrapped up. If such information is readily available on, the winner will also be contacted directly via email or Facebook private message. If you have any questions about this giveaway, please don't hesitate to email me.

♥ ♥ ♥

Decades of Hats is a lovely, fun read that will make you yearn for a time machine and bulging pocket book. I actually purchased a new vintage hat within days of reading it for the first time, because one of the styles it included spoke to me so much that I knew that I needed to enrich my hat wardrobe with one that looks quite similar asap!

This book is a fabulous resource for vintage fashionistas, hat collectors, milliners, costumers, and anyone who enjoys hats (and/or vintage catalog pages/ads) in general.

I want to sincerely thank Schiffer Publishing for teaming up with my blog for this great giveaway. As a lifelong bookworm who always has numerous titles on the go, there are few things I enjoy offering my readers as a giveaway prize more than a fabulous vintage related book like this hat image filled gem.

Many thanks, and best of luck, as well, to all those who take part in this fun giveaway (I can't wait to read more about your favourite decade for hats!).