Pride Costumes...

Here's some of the stuff I've made for Pride month - I started most of these weeks (months?) ago but had to wrap them up quickly. Don't be fooled, I'm still spending most of my days working on Space Suit commissions. Most of these will appear on stage in Austin and Houston, TX.

Pleating Chiffon for Janet's Hat

It's hard to catch a good view, but my best guess is Janet's hat has about 3 or 4 pleats around the base of the dome. To accomplish this you'll need to cut the chiffon on the bias. This is actually crucial for best results. On the bias means along the diagonal of the fabric's weave. If you take a woven piece of fabric and tug on it sideways or longways you won't get much stretch. If you tug on it diagonally the fabric will stretch considerably more. This is an extreme advantage when working around curves.

I'm using a sheer cotton fabric from the home decor department at JoAnn's. Its cotton content will allow it to press easily without fear of melting. I cut a bias strip that was 30" by 8" - way more than I needed, but you can cut the excess off later. I pressed the pleats the length of the fabric - aiming for about 1/4" - 3/8" pleats. Be very careful not to stretch the fabric at this point. After pleating, fold and press the excess under and trim it off. You'll now have a 30" pleated strip that should be relatively straight. Janet's isn't perfect, so don't sweat any waviness.

Now you want to press a curve into your pleated strip. The bias will do all the work for you. The curved band will make wrapping it on the hat lay smoothly.

These pleats are a little on the narrow side, so I'm going to play around with 3 wider pleats in place of the 4 narrow pleats. The hat is $20 on Amazon (thanks Larry!). It's not as flimsy as Janet's, but it should hold up to shadow-casting abuse well.

Once you get the pleats placed you can trim down off the excess length and add your bow.

Janet's Hat

Working with a "winter white" hat I found on eBay, I matched a near-white chiffon fabric for the band and bow.  If you look at her hat in relation to the color of Brad's shirt, you can see it's not quite as white.  Trying to find the right shape hat is hard enough.

Create the band by pleating a strip of chiffon on the bias.  The bias will adjust to the hat's curve and lay more smoothly around the crown.  (More detailed post of this process).  Secure it by hand with needle and thread - all the way through the hat.

I made the bow by cutting two 22" x 4" long strip of chiffon with tapered ends.  Bag line and leave a slit on the side to turn right side out and press.


The bow is basically folded accordion-style.  Starting from the center I folded it every 2-1/2" - the tapered ends left slightly longer. I hand-stitched the back of the folds together and then scrunched the back to give the bow a full effect.  You'll have to play around with this to get it how you like.  Secure the bow over the hand band to hide it's seam - either with hand stitches or even glue.

The hat rests far back on her head and you'll need to add a hat pin to get the same effect.  Her hat also acquires some dimples - presumably from her own hand holding it down as she runs.

Janet's Hat (Research)

I've seen Janet's style of hat referred to as a "Breton", which is a broad term for a hat with a brim that rolls up.  Hers is presumably wool felt with a narrow folded edge and a pleated chiffon band with an accordian bow in back.

The brim looks wider in front, and the crown acquires some dimples every time she puts her hand on her head, but I don't think the hat actually has any dimples by design - it's just a plain round dome.

The chiffon band looks pleated around the base of the crown, and then there seem to be 4 bows and two tail ends that come to a point

Look carefully in the second photo and you can also see some sort of hat pin through the chiffon band on the center front of the hat.

ETA - a hatpin is a decorative pin for holding a hat to the head, usually through the hair.  A hatpin would have an entrance point (typically in back)  and an exit point (typically the crown).