I live near a fairly affluent area with generations of rich teenagers and retirees. This means that Good Stuff appears in my local thrift stores. For the past few years, I’ve been collecting interesting fabric hats, with an eye to adapting them into gonzo wearable art pieces.
The second* fiber art project of 2019 involves an olive-green cotton engineer cap (Goodwill, $2, a year or two ago), various cotton olive-green and moss-green fabrics from previous projects, bronze buttons/conchos and beads, glass beads, some stiff interfacing felt, bronze satin ribbon, and clear Tacky Glue.
Here are just the 8×3.5″ wings:
The two secret weapons to making this hat *work* are stiffened interfacing and Clear Tacky Glue (Aleene’s brand, usually).
The 1/8″ interfacing is less floppy than felt, and can be purchased with single or double-sided iron-on glue dots already silkscreened onto the felt. It forms the core of the feathers, supporting wing structure, wheel base, and the hidden support tab that will go inside the cap.
Clear Tacky Glue…I’ve learned to use this as my go-to-adhesive for washable fabric projects. No more pinning, which distorts fabric layers. No more stiff, crunchy Beacon Fabric glue, which gums up my handsewing and machine sewing needles. No more basting with thread, because in small projects that’s more work than I like.
Just add glue to both fabric pieces to be tacked, wait a few minutes for the glue to partially set, press the pieces together, and walk away for a few hours. Come back to sew the pieces into place (because I never rely just on glue), and Brava! a solid, strong join. Wash out the glue in cold calm water, then let dry.
Tacky Glue joins are also perfect for ridiculously tiny sewing areas that my Elna sewing machine just won’t do. Like the bronze edgings of the feathers above, which were all secured with Tacky Glue before hand sewing, then washed out. The only problem I have is that this ribbon is a little frail, and is already fraying. If or when I build more of these hats, I’ll use stronger grosgrain ribbon.
For this piece, it will just add to the aged, slightly grotty look.
*The first fiber project of 2019 will have its own post shortly. Maybe. I still have to decide if I want to release it to the public as a PSA or write it up for a paying publication.