Monday, May 7, 2012

Cinco de Derby

With the Kentucky Derby falling on Cinco de Mayo this year, the party possibilities were plentiful and my friends did not disappoint, throwing a hats-required Mexican-Derby fiesta. I love any excuse to make a costume, so I went to work immediately on a Mexican themed derby hat!

The original hat had a great woven pattern, 
but I had some more exciting fake flowers in mind...
Hat before
Shaping the brim to get a classic derby silhouette,
I used a light wire around the edge and tacked the brim up with some thread. 
I think there are better techniques out there, but it did the trick!
Shaping the brim of a straw hat
 A few tissue paper flowers later, with some tulle because it just wasn't quite loud enough yet!
Cinco de Mayo Derby hat with paper flowers and tulle.

Having made it fairly last minute, I would have loved to try some other techniques on shaping the brim and added more craziness, but I'm pretty pleased with the results! Just trying to figure out if I will ever get to wear it again...

Lauren