DIY Project: Fascinators

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I am not sure whether fascinators are purely an English thing but they are often worn to weddings by guests in lieu of a more traditional hat. In addition to our own wedding we attended 3 others this summer, with another to come in December and 3 more so far next year. Apart from the usual issues relating to rotating dresses and accessories so one doesn’t appear to have one ‘wedding outfit’ for all occasions, it is also useful to have a number of hats and fascinators to call upon to change one’s look.

Top {Image by Elegant & Wild} - at a traditional English church & marquee wedding. Bottom {Image by Husband} - at a more low key hotel wedding with civil ceremony.

It was therefore a pleasure to attend the monthly meeting of my local Women’s Institute and be taught by a milliner how to make a fascinator of my own.

Previous attempts of mine had been to make my veil, birdcage veil for my going away outfit and a 20s style headband for my hen party {I can share photos if people wish!} but I had never attempted anything like this. We were given a base, feathers, stiff material made out of banana leaves, netting and ribbon. This is what I came up with in the hour and a half we had to experiment with:

And why yes, since you ask, that is the wedding bunting on our sitting room wall. And yes, those are life drawings that I did a few weeks ago stuck to the wall with masking tape and looks like there is a head coming out of my ear. One day I really will get around to learning to take better photographs.

So, the fascinator was made by sewing a comb to the underside of the base, bending some stiff banana leaf fabric (the name of which escapes me at present) into a suitable shape and stitching it to the base before adding netting and feathers. I am not sure this example is good enough to wear to anyone’s wedding but with some practice I think I could achieve something wearable.

Has anyone else attempted their own hat or fascinator? And with what result?

xoxo

Ps. If any American readers are wondering what the Women’s Institute is or why I attend, please leave a comment in the comments box and I will write another post next week answering your questions and explaining the WI as best I can.