Bearie Antoinette

My dad always wore a paper bag on his head when he worked on the car, couldn’t mess up his look or get grease on those locks! It was a great hat, and as time wore on it really acquired a lovely patina…. So I thought about taking a long not so wide paper bag and try to make my own cool hat.

I had in mind the height of something similar to the wigs that Marie Antoinette wore. So I began crunching, munching and scrunching the bag into shape.

The next step was to add bits of lace pieces to cover the entire hat. These pieces were a gift from a relative, but were a little on the grungy side, so actually perfect for this project. I stitched the lace into place with crochet cotton. I also stitched the brim and the top of the hat.

Then I painted the lace and bits of bag that showed with four different colors of acrylic paints, I sealed the paint, then added Lumiere paints on top of this to finish off the coloring.

hat close-up

I embellished the top and the brim with ric-rac and vintage mother of pearl buttons. I added in a bow made from French wire ribbon for the decoration. This I embellished with a few flowers and leaves that I also stitched from French and satin wire ribbons.

The teddy bear was a long ago crib-mate of mine. Then I was not so concerned with names, hence the easy to remember “Bearie”. I think I was more concerned with comfort than conversation. At one point I must have been very naughty though, because she only has one ear! OOps I feel really bad about that!

Bearie Antoinette

The tatted baby bonnet could also be considered a hat of sorts. I purchased this a few months ago at an antique shop. I changed the cord that is used to tie the hat around the neck. I stitched several silk ribbon roses with ombre ribbon leaves and stitched these around the hat.

The collar that she is wearing is made from French wire ribbon that I ruched. The ribbon flowers are made from vintage Jacquard ribbon and these are decorated with vintage mother of pearl buttons.

I hope that you, the viewer, are not offended and don’t mind that I used Marie Antoinette as a model here for the “look”.

Enjoy! ~Christen