The Making of Green Tweed Deerstalker (H68)

Dear reader: please do forgive for the shortness of the descriptions but writing is not one of my skills. I prefer to spend my time making rather than writing, I hope you understand.

 The finished Deerstalker H68- Displayed with studio light and in natural light.



You notice that the pin-tuck design does really stand out in natural light as the shadows work well.

 I have always been a great fan of art nouveau design and that time period is what very often inspires me for a design if I work with plain fabric.

Firstly I do sketch the design with pencil and once satisfied with its shape I then finalise it in ink.

 The finalised designs for the different parts of the Deerstalker hat.

The chosen fabric is a beautiful, medium weight, olive/moss green vintage Scotspun Tweed with flecks of red and orange.

 The designs are now being transfered onto the reverse of the fabirc.

 The transfereed design showing in yellow dots

 To make the design visible on the right side, each line has to be basted by hand.

 Now the design is visible on the right side. Separate lines are in separate colours so I don't mix the lines when pin-tucking.

 One by one, the design is being traced with pin-tucks.

 One finished design.

 But there is more ... here the design for one of the visors is being transfered.

 All 10 pieces with the designs are ready for pin-tucking.

Some time later ... the individual pieces are ready to be cut into their shapes.

 The hat is slowly taking on shape.

I like this part, when it all comes together.

 Preparing the flaps ...

 ... preparing the 2 visors ....

 All going well so far ...

The flaps have been joined ... 

Almost there ...

 The lining, in this case a luxurious vintage silk is being prepared with padding.

 The lining taking on shape ...

Inserting the lining and basting it into place before sewing. 

This was a lengthy process but I am very pleased with the end result. In fact so much that I find it difficult to let it go!

It works very well with red hair, I might add!

The Making of Deerstalker H67

The finished Hat - Gilboa Deerstalker H67

The main fabric; made in England. Finely woven wool / silk blend with traditional hounds-tooth pattern.

To add some texture, the yellow lines are traced with pin-tucks, which produces a embossed effect.

Following this, the pieces are carefully cut so that the pattern matches when joining them together.

The hat is taking on shape ...

More pieces need to be cut and the lining has been selected.

 Preparing the flaps ...

 Visors have been attached at the front and back ....

 Almost there ....

 The lining is made and prepared ....

Lastly, the lining is basted into position before finalising the hat.

Introducing a new range: The Gilboa Deerstalker - The making of H66

 

 The deerstalker is a fun and versatile hat, no matter what time of the year it is!

Using heavier fabric and padding, it will keep you snug and warm during the cold season. Visors at the front and back will protect you from rain and snow and if the elements are really putting up a fight, the flaps can be tied down so your ears are protected, too.

But the deerstalker is not only for winter; if made with light fabrics, it is fantastic for summer, protecting your face and neck from the sun.


For this particular deerstalker (H66), a jet black corduroy with an elegant sheen was used. The contrasting fabric - used on the underside of the visor and flaps - is a beautiful screen print depicting various animals such as deers, horses and foxes.

The individual pieces have been cut and thermal padding has been added. One by one they are joined together.

 The hat is taking on shape.

 Deciding which lining to use: liberty tana lawn or vintage kimono silk

 The decision fell on the silk, it will add some extra warmth. The lining is made in the same manner as the main hat and is ready to be inserted.

 The lining is inserted but before stitching, it has to be basted into place by hand.

Almost finished ....

The Making of Wide Cut Flat Cap H60

Wide Cut Flat-cap H60

Cap no 2 of a small, limited collection.

Cap no 1 (Narrow cut flat Cap H53)one has been sold.
Although part of a limited collection, each hat within a collection is still a one-off piece as each hat varies in design and materials used. The only common part is the main fabric.

Main fabric: a medium weight pure linen fabric with a vibrant, oriental-style dragons in orange, yellow and red on an olive green background. 

The individual pieces for the cap are cut in a manner so as to fully display the beautifully shaped dragon.

Now the contours of the dragon are traced with individual pin-tucks. A slow process as the pin-tucks have to be fastened on the reverse side so as not to come undone later.

The dragon is beginning to come 'alive'.

The pin-tucks are complete, now the task of cutting out the final shape and joining it all together.

The cap is taking on shape.

Preparing the lining: a equally vibrant, vintage kimono silk piece.

Almost there ...

Choosing the feathers for the back. 

Here the choice fell on peacock and golden pheasant feathers.

Finished Flat-cap H60

The Making of Beret/Tam-style Hat H45 ...

First of all I would like to mention that making that hat had taken priority over the photo quality throughout the work process, please do excuse some of the slightly blurry images.


The Gilboa Beret is technically not a beret. It is made up of 10 individually shaped pieces (i.e. each piece is of a different shape), where as a beret is made of just one piece and is usually felt or wool.

Below a summary of the processes involved in the making of H45:


Inspired by art nouveau design, this particular design requires each segment to be layers. It will include pin-tucks that twine around the ceneterpiece, as shown below in the sketch.

The previously made pencil sketch is finalised in ink and prepared for transfer onto the left (reverse) side of the main fabric, in this case a beautiful piece of cotton velvet.

 

 Velvet is tricky to work on as it keeps trying to 'run away' because of its short 'hair' surface. This is how the transferred design looks like on the reverse side.

Each individual segment for this design is made up of two layers. Here visible is the right side of the first layer, with basting in different colours for guidance when joining the layers and later pin-tucking.

Both first and second layer basted and ready to be combined.

As described in the previous picture, except x 10 ...

The layers are being basted together, ready for sewing.

All layers have been sewn together and are ready for the pin-tucking.

What you see here are very roughly shaped segments, they will be cut into their correct shape much later.

(Each segment is numbered as each is going to be cut into its unique shape)

Much later ... all the pin-tucks have been stitched with 'invisible' thread. This is the most time consuming part, and lastly all the individual threads have to be cleaned up on the reverse side.

 Now each segment is ready to be cut into shape. The basting left visible is for cutting guidance.

The hat is slowly taking on shape ...

So far so good, now for the decor ...

.... feathers, passementerie (here a antique piece of French passementerie) and sequins are placed on the hat ...

... finally all the chosen decor is being sewn on ...

Next the lining has be to made (also consisting of 10 segments).

Then the pieces are all joined together and the result is ....