Summer Straws and Winter Furs

As the time until baby number two arrives get fewer and fewer, my work time has been more and more devoted to making, rather than blogging, so today is just going to be a bit of show and tell.

I've just done a complete stock changeover at The Blackheath Hub, the local shop where my hats are on sale. A full winter collection has gone in, just in time for the cooler weather, and a lot of summer hats are back in my hands.

I'll be listing these ones, for which I happily have these lovely images on my friend Ruanne, on Etsy in the next few days.

Honestly, if this floral one doesn't sell by the time it's summer here again, I'm keeping it!

Straw hats with decently large brims are a must for summer, and very flattering too.

Among the other hats I'll be listing are these versions of the 1954 Butterfly cap I reviewed for the Trove Pattern Project. I couldn't decide between red velvet and leopard print, and my Instagram friends were similarly divided, so I made both! It really is a cute pattern.

I do like bows on things. As you'll see a bit in the winter hats too!

Sadly I don't have beautifully modelled photos of these ones. The weather here has almost literally been stinking hot or raining for a month now!

There's a lot of 1960s inspiration and a lot of faux fur in this collection, with a little bit of 1940s (still fluffy though) thrown in for good measure.

I think I prefer the basic hoods in the really fluffy white fur, but the rich red has a lot going for it too. And as you can see, I'm enjoying adding pom poms to things!

My love of pixie hats continues, in furry 60s hood form this time. I've played with the shape a couple of times, and I think in future I will make some further revisions, but overall it's looking cute!

From the forties I'm exploring fur-trimmed tilt hats, with big silk bows. I swoon over these whenever I see vintage examples or illustrations, and I'm happy that I finally made one. Ok, two.

And finally, some seriously lush ear muffs. I got the idea for ear muffs on a more substantial base than just a thin band from a 1940s millinery book, but I've taken their instructions as a base and done it my own way. I'm getting really happy with them now (they are SO comfortable it is ridiculous) and once I've worked on another variation I have in mind, these are set to be one of my first sewing patterns! Look out for them in my post-maternity world. (Right now I can't think too far beyond the next five weeks, to be honest, and life is dividing into "urgent" and "later, whatever, I don't care".)

I hope that whatever season you are in, and preparing for, I've shared something to inspire you in your hat wearing! Keep an eye on the Etsy shop for the new listings (and use the discount code "uptheduff" to get 30% off from now until the shop closes for maternity leave in about two weeks), and if you happen to be a Sydney/Blue Mountains local, pop in to the Blackheath Hub to try something on!