Fascinators and More Frou-Frou....

Over the summer I've posted pictures of some of the fabric I've been buying and projects made with it. I love beautiful fabrics and I love sewing but, as you sewers can imagine, this can lead to acquiring a lot of scraps that are semi-useless but too pretty to throw away. I've been trying to sort out lately and have tossed out lots and lots of leftover fabric but I can't quite part with silks, velvets, etc. So I now have 2 big bags of lovely scraps that will either wind up in a crazy quilt like the one from Carnivale I posted a picture of or something else.

I made this hat from scraps several years ago and on very, very cold winter days it really comes in handy. The hat is just a simple cloche made from some leftover Malden Mills faux fur. I lined it with cherry-red satin and made two roses from the satin to sew on the back. The leaves are made from some emerald green velvet left from a jacket made for a Christmas party a very, very long time ago.

I was thinking that now that my hair is long and I wear it up most of the time, now might be a good time to make some fancy fabric hair ornaments. I found a few metal hair clips in my notions box and I made this rose out of some leftover blue and gold French ribbon. I like it though I don't know if I'll ever wear it.

But I could not quite bear to part with the remaining scraps of plum-colored silk that I used for a jacket and the bag I posted in a previous blog. I cut two strips about 8” long, fringed the edges, lay them on top of one another, ran a gathering stitch down the center, drew it up tight and sewed it to a barrette. I've been wearing it ever since and like it especially because the color is so muted. The bow below is made from silk velvet left from a jacket made years ago...

So, I dug out my bags of fancy scraps and plan to try a few more. It's a lot of frou-frou, I know, but pleasant to do with pretty results. My friend Elizabeth Payne of Damselfly Studios makes amazing hair ornaments that she sells in her Etsy shop. I doubt I'll ever make anything is beautiful as her designs but she is my inspiration. I see on Etsy there is a new name for pretty concoctions worn in the hair - “Fascinators”. I love that. I'm not sure if I'd ever be bold enough to try to be that fascinating but it gives me the excuse I need to hang on to all these scraps. Like I needed one.

Thanks for reading.