I like how weather beaten Radagast's hat looks.. and I'm pretty certain from looking closely at the photo on the right that the one in the movie is felted (yay for felting!) I wanted to make a hat inspired by Radagast's.. but there would be differences.
Much as I love the look of the movie hat, it looks like it's felted from a hairy fibre which I would guess could feel a little itchy.. so I decided to use Bluefaced Leicester. Its coarser than merino but still soft and non-itchy on the forehead. Plus I already had a nice bag of oatmeal BFL with tussah silk fibre blended in. And I wanted it to be a ladies hat, so a little bit more daintily shaped :)
I managed to lose my progress pics making this hat - I honestly do NOT know how.. it's rather irritating. So I shall have to settle for sharing a (hopefully not too boring) description of what I did..
I made a new resist.. outlining the resist from Bofur #3 and tweaking it. Adding fullness to the crown, I wanted it to be loose enough to get the crinkles and folds. I also changed the shape along the bottom as I wanted a deeper brim at the back.
I didnt use any silk fabric for this one, just 2 layers of BFL/silk fibre and a scattering of moss green merino on top.
I worked it, and worked it.. BFL is slower than merino. But I basically worked, cut and shaped it in the same way as with the other hobbit hats.
The brim on this hat needed to be made separately and sewn on over the top of the earflaps.. I did this just before blocking. When it came to blocking the hat I carefully pinned the folds and wrinkles how I wanted them to set.. but removed them before it was completely dry, gently massaging any indentations to get rid of them.
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| Instead of feathers I added a couple of felted quills |
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| With nice green buttons sewn at the bases |
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| Its surprising how light the hat is, nice and warm though |
If I were to make another, I would alter the resist so the back flap was deeper and the earflaps less pronounced.. that said I really do like this. I like the subtle colouring, the quills and the crinkles :)
So there you go.. all I've got left to do now is the Gandalf :) And that will be coming later in the year (its been on my 'to do' list since the Lord of the Rings films 'bout time I made it!)
All the hats you recently made are fantastic ! Look great and warm in your chilly weather. Amber and Jess are so lovely.
ReplyDeleteThanks Terrie :)
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Ha, you get better and better ...
ReplyDeleteEls, Inger, you have really made me smile.. thank you xx
ReplyDeleteHow cool is that hat?! Thanks for the tip on the BFL...I didn't know it wasn't itchy and have been sticking with merino since I'm new at wet feting. Your journey is very inspirational!
ReplyDeleteWauw, this one looks so cool, love the colour, again... Fits you perfectly ;))
ReplyDeleteThank you Kerry & Janine :)
ReplyDeleteKerry I find BFL fine for a hat, but for something like a scarf.. I think it may possibly itch a little up around the throat - I have very sensitive skin though, so it may be fine for you. Its definitely worth trying, its a little more work than merino but makes a lovely felt with a different texture. I think the silk blended into this made it softer to the touch also. World of Wool sell it dyed if you are looking for coloured tops.
xx
Oh Deborah, i am in looove with your new felted "hobbit" hats, how gorgeous!! Love that you were so inspired by the film and got to thinking about making them as soon as you were out of the cinema too ;) and they really suit you. Happy felting dear friend x x ps: i cant wait for the Hobbit part two to come out and already am itching to see part 1 again. hee hee even the comment enabler word is hobbitish ~ miredour x
ReplyDeleteDeborah--Your recent set of hat projects is incredible!! I love how your experimentation keeps resulting in more and more fanciful expressions.
ReplyDeleteI love 'watching' you work...thanks for the terrific posts, my friend! XXO-
Oh girls, thank you both so much for your lovely comments :) You both brought a tear to my eye (I must be getting mushy ;)
ReplyDeleteI feel truly blessed to know you lovely ladies!
Glad you like my recent Hobbit-Mania.. just one last thing to show you later in the week. I really have enjoyed making these hats, I was like a woman possessed.. feels so good to have them 'out there'
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Dużo pracy kosztuje taka czapka, ale wygląda świetnie. A Ty na zdjęciu wyglądasz fantastycznie. I to spojrzenie. Powinnaś reklamować film,jako księżna jednej z krain hobbitów.
ReplyDeleteThank you Karolina :) you are sweet
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