Pink 1920s Felt Cloche

This year I've joined the "Historical Sew Fortnightly" challenge. I love this kind of challenge. A theme, an idea, a restriction. Something that makes you think in different directions than you otherwise would.

This is actually challenge number 3 for 2014, but I only just decided I would join, so this is my first one. The restriction was simply: Pink.

Although I went on a Pinterest frenzy finding pink hats, in the end my inspiration came from a black-and-white photo I had pinned months earlier. Now I'm paying for my pinning sins because the original source is not forthcoming on this one. But I've found another blog with the photo, it's the last one in this post, with the swirl and the bling.

When I did the single swirl, I wasn't happy with it, so I added some more. I was also a bit tentative about the bling, but I stuck with my source, dug through my op-shop finds, and blinged it up. I think I like it!

The Challenge: Pink 
Fabric: Pink wool felt hood
Pattern: No pattern
Year: 1920s
Notions: Thread. Bling. Glue.
How historically accurate is it? 80-90%
Hours to complete: 3-ish
First worn: Just for photoshoot
Total cost: about $20

One of the aims of the Historical Sew Fortnightly challenges is to promote historical research and accuracy. This one should be pretty good. Felt cloches were pretty popular in the 1920s, and the design is based on an original hat from the era. I assume that the processes for making millinery felt will have evolved a fair bit since the 20s, but I imagine the end product is fairly similar.

Even though the colour was the key element of this challenge, I prefer it (and me) in black-and-white. I promise I haven't edited the hat nearly as much as my face.

I have a 1920s-heavy weekend ahead of me too, so there will be more cloches to show next week! Fingers crossed that the rain eases up enough to play some croquet.