Maddie's hat

Maddie takes after her mother in being a scrounger and when the costume shop at River Falls was tossing out hats she came home with a large garbage bag full of them along with many bits of fabric.

the prize of the bunch was a rather shabby, but vintage 1800's beaver top hat. The crown was off and the side was caved in. The lining was pretty bad as well and the brim needed some work, but I still cannot imagine any shop getting rid of a genuine vintage top hat. Well I was not certain how to restore it, but knew that Michael (her Godfather and theatrical milliner) would be able to help. She took the hat to him and they spent a wonderful afternoon bonding in the costume shop. He gave her all sorts of tips and techniques and a mess of curved needles and appropriate thread. She brought it home and spent many hours hand sewing all the pieces back together.

Then she dressed it up in Steam Punk fashion. I found the little bird which she dyed a copper color. She added tiny hinges to his wings and clockwork eyes.
She carefully painted seams on the bird. A mainspring went into his tail. The ostrich plumes were left over from My Fair Lady and the lace was just hanging around the house. Oh and the little picture frame she found at Goodwill.

It turned out very nice and it fits her wonderfully. I can hardly wait to see the whole costume once she finishes it. She spent much of the summer learning to sew. Oh and the pictures were taken in her dorm room.