D.I.Y. Feather Hat Band For Women’s Fedora Felt Hat

Have you ever stood in front of your closet and thought, “I have nothing to wear”? For me, it seems that this happens at least three times a week! Except this time, it happened with my hats! I stood in front of my closet the other day, blank-eyes, staring at my pile of hats aimlessly and murmured with myself which hat I should wear for the day. Well, I tried on several hats…but I was unsatisfied and I needed a little EXTRA for my final touch. Then I asked myself a question, “What is the perfect way to cure hat boredom? It’s dawned on me that with help of accessories; it’s easy to turn one hat into hundreds! What’s absolutely amazing about this hat accessory tutorial is that the hatband is actually removable, which allow you to choose your look depending on the mood or the season.

I was instantly inspired by this gorgeous Isle Hat from Gigi Burris and decided to recreate it, adding my own little twist: I would make a feather band for my felt hat instead of a straw hat. Who said feathers were limited to only summer?

To create you will need:

• 1 Fedora felt hat
• Assorted feathers (choose colors of your choice)
• 2 mm Round black cord (or soft genuine leather lace in any color you like)
• Needle and thread
• Liquid Stitch
• Scissors

The first step, starts by wrapping the round cord around the base of the crown (known as the area above the brim that sits on your head) then add about 2-3 inches of the cord at the end and cut it. This will roughly be the size of your hatband.

Divide assorted feathers to small groups of 2-3 feathers each. I love mixing three individual feather patterns to create dimension.

Insert the needle through the quill from the back and pull the thread all the way through. Run the needle repeatedly through the other two feathers (one feather at a time – no rush because you don’t want to accidently tangle or knot the thread). A tip: at the three feathers, have the quills evenly abreast and slightly overlapping. Try to adjust the feathers by spread them out to show off the beautiful patterns.

Wrap the thread around the quills then insert the needle through the quills from the top. Repeat another round. Once the feathers are secured strongly, I recommend flipping the back and inserting the needle through half way on the quill in horizontal. Tie off the thread two times around the needle to create a secured double knot, and trim. Replicate the feathers’ stitching and lay them on the hat brim, trying to evenly space the feather groups about 2 inches from each other.

Once you’re satisfied with the look of feathers’ position on the hat, lay the cord flat and begin to stitch the feathers and the cord together. Insert the needle from the bottom through the cord and the feathers and pull the thread all the way. Continue the stitch by inserting the needle from the top through the quills and the cord. Double knot the thread from the cord and trim.

Repeat the steps until the cord is achieved and secured with the feathers. Make sure to leave about 2 inches at the end of the empty cord (now you should have one group of feather left).

Wrap the hatband around the base of the crowd as tightly as you can. Make sure that the hatband is as taut as possible. Glue the ends together with Liquid Stitch. Wait for the glue to set a minute. Cover the seam with the last feather group and stitch tightly with the cord.

And that’s it…

I hope you like this DIY tutorial! And if you give this a try, please share photos of your creation on Instagram by hashtagging #diywithnanphanita and tell me your thoughts. Hope to see you there!