Tuesday 15 July 2014

Faux-Fur Cossack Hats

I have a number of fabric weaknesses. Fabrics that I just love, and find it hard to resist. Faux fur is one of them.


Many (many) years ago I went on a fabric-buying binge and I still have a lot of fake furs in my stash from that time. At one point, Lincraft had a massive sale and I bought 3 metres of that fake snow leopard fur! Let me tell you that 3 metres is going to make a lot of hats.


I do love cossack style hats, as you may have noticed before in my 1960s faux fur hat post, and with winter getting serious, they were the perfect project.


I mixed things up with other fabrics for the tip and faux fur for the sideband. This snow leopard one has a purply-blue velvet top, and I matched a black fur fabric with a grey wool plaid.


The snow leopard is my favourite of these fabrics. As well as being so visually striking, it is super soft and nice to work with (for a fur fabric!). I'm in the process of making myself one of these to wear for the remainder of this winter.


As I mentioned in my last post about the 1950s hat, I have some hats in a bricks-and-mortar shop now, and that includes these cossack styles. The blue mountains winters lend themselves perfectly to some seriously warm hats! The grey one shown in the pictures above has already sold. Here is my little display. I'm pretty pleased with it, and they provided the cute little mirror.


I've also got a few more currently in-progress on my sewing table. They are mostly at the sewing-in-the-lining and neatening-up stages.

I treated myself to some new faux furs recently, including this mottled red and black.


This fur-trimmed beanie style is made from a second-hand scarf in a tartan print (Black Watch, I think?) and a fur trim I bought a massive roll of second hand at a market.


I couldn't resist going all out on a seriously winter-princess fluffy long-pile white faux fur. Who could resist, right?


At the moment I'm stuck deciding on bling for it. It is impressive plain, but I think that when you go all out, you should go ALL OUT. And that means sparklies. But I have to decide which one.

(Also, having wrestled this monster throught my sewing machine, I don't want to hold back!)


I fear that my favourite bling is the one I can't use unless I keep the hat for myself, because it was my grandmother's! But I could try to find something similar.

I'd love to hear your opinions on the white hat. Bling or no bling? Which bling is best?
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9 comments

  1. I agree that your grandmother's brooch is the best look out of these, but am not sure I like the central placement...perhaps you could try some other ideas with more fluid bling...can't really define what I am trying to say, but feel that it needs something more radical to set it off. I love the hat (s).

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    1. I was initially thinking of something asymmetrical but since I only had simple brooches in my stash, they all looked best in the middle. I like the idea of something more...spreading, with branches. I'm not sure if that's what you mean as well!

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    2. That's exactly what I think I mean :)

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  2. Fabulous faux fur toppers. These have such an appealing Dr. Zhivago vibe to them, while also instantly attracting me as I know they'd work wonders here in the harsh Canadian winters (which, at times in some places, can be as brutal as Russia's).

    Perhaps, if you wanted to, one way to use up more of the snow leopard fur would be to make a matching muff. (Just an idea - I've always been smitten with muffs, so my suggestion may be a touch biased :D)

    ♥ Jessica

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    1. Thank you :)

      That is a great idea. I always liked the elegant look of a fur muff with an outfit. I have made one or two before, so I could definitely do that!

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    2. I love muffs, too. I had one when I was about 7 - it had a green satin lining and a matching green twisted rope (think very thin pyjama cord) to go round the neck, so it would hang about waist level when you didn't have you hands in it. I felt very grown up and sophistcated whenever I wore it...

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    3. Ooh I have green satin still from that dress! I do love green. What colour was the fur?

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    4. Brown russet - think fox/mink. The satin was a darker green than the dress, but you should have lots in your fur stash that would look wonderful with the dress satin. I was thinking that instead of the neck rope, you could have a wrist chain, so that the muff could hang elegantly from the arm when not in use....perhaps.

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    5. Sounds beautiful. Good ideas :)

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