By J.L. Smithson

I love hats. I have been told that I look good in hats. That’s all the encouragement I needed. I have decided that I need to start making hats. But what styles?

I went to my aunt’s house and tried on all her Red Hat hats. You know who these ladies are: red hats, purple clothes, that poem about being old and wearing purple? Yes, she bought into the idea with vigor. She even has a room dedicated to her hats. So, while she was “helping” me make a jacket, I tried on all her hats.

This one was silly. Warm, but silly. She bought it in New York. Sorry: Neewwww Yawk.

This one is over the top. Even for a Red Hat Lady. It looks like a parade float.

This one was one of the tamer hats. I doubt she wears this one often.  I am not a fan of sequins myself.

But, this one is my favorite. It reminds me of all the fancy and over-the-top Derby Hats that I have seen. While not along the lines of Eliza Doolittle’s black and white extravaganza, I still think the only time I would wear this hat was when horses were running around to distract people from the idea that I am wearing a chicken on my head.

The first hat I made was impressive, but no one understood what it was supposed to be. It was for the 2011 Day of Wrong out at the Renaissance Festival. I was Ms. Hanukkah. I made a menorah hat. Most people thought it was a birthday cake hat. Clearly, my creativity was not being understood by the masses. I thought, “Maybe I needed to take a class.”

I have attended two Tiny Hat classes through MNSOC. The first one was a Tiny Top Hat class. This is what I created. I thought it was mighty cute!

I recently took the Tiny Tricorn Hat and, while I completed the tricorn, I have yet to make final trim decisions. But I have to say that I am definitely hooked! I bought some Lynn McMasters hat patterns and, using the techniques that the fabulous Carol Strand taught us in both classes, I am ready to take on a regular sized top hat!

I am by no means a brilliant seamstress, but I learn quickly when shown how to do something. The classes I have taken through MNSOC have given me the skills to be a dangerous novice milliner. Please check back to see what I create next! I think it might be a white cartoon feline head with a red bow, made into a hat…