Thursday, March 27, 2008

Straw Boater Tutorial

This was my first Tutorial many years ago...but it still a basic and deserves repeating. Michelle


A Straw Boater 1":1' Scale

Supplies


Iron

Sharp scissors

3/4" Dowel

Hat Straw and misc decorations

Glue with fine tip dspenser

Step 1

The Crown There is a linen cord/string woven in on either side of the hat braid. Pull this cord (either side) gently BUT firmly to curl the straw. Do not pull hard or you risk breaking the straw or pulling it all the way out. Glue (or stitch if you have to) straw into a 3/4" tight circle. To do this put a very bit of glue on the edge and overlap barely 1/16" on straw edge. Cut the end of the straw at an angle to help hide the cut end. Press Flat with steam iron.

Step 2

G

lue two flat strips of hat braid together lengthwise. Glue the second strip not on edge but half way covering the second strip. This will define the crown height so make it as tall as you would like. They should be long enough to go around a 3/4" dowel. Glue the ends together around the dowel and then glue the disk made in step 1 on the top. Barely glue the edge. If you need more glue then add more to the inside so it won't be seen.

Step 3

The Brim Pull the cord again as in step 1. Curl, by pulling cord approx. 7 - 8" worth of straw. But instead of making a tight disk as in the crown, leave a hole in the center that is approx. 5/8". Curl around and around gluing each subsequent layer just barely 1/16" over the edge of the layer before. Go around at least three times but this is your preference. Cut the end of the straw at an angle to help hide the cut end.

Step 4


Glue the crown to the brim at the center and decorate to your hearts content.

Thank you for visiting our Blog. Hopefully you enjoyed the tutorial.

Just as a gentle reminder, that tutorial was written to help to stimulate your creativity.

This Tutorial, Pictures, & Instructions are copy-righted & are not to be used as a tutorial of your own.

This means you may not copy and post this tutorial to your own website, or print it out and sell or distribute it as your own.

2 comments:

Kathi said...

Thank you so much for sharing this tutorial! What is the width of the straw braid you are using? I would like to make one of these. :D

michellemahler said...

Hi
It is the standard Hat Braid I sell on my website. I think it is between 1/4 and 3/16". You can find it here: http://www.minidolls.com/showpage.php?pageID=hatstraw
Michelle minidolls.com