It's Been a Dread-fully Long Time...

... since I've shared a tabistry project.  But, don't fear.  I haven't thrown in the tabs.  Just a little behind sharing projects.  In fact, here is my 2nd attemtp at a full-sized top hat.  My 1st large top hat can be found here and a mini one here. 


This pic is kinda creepy, huh?  As you'll see, I took the shots on a styrofoam head, so I thought I'd spruce up a couple in photoshop.  :)  



I've been playing with a slightly different tabistry approach this time around.  Instead of weaving the entire crown in one piece, I wove vertical pieces with black fleece that were then joined together with a dark gray fleece.  This actually took somewhat longer, but I like the subtle stripe effect.

 

Unlike the first top hat, this one is round on top instead of oval-shaped.  I put a bit of flare in the top by making the top larger than the crown and increasing the number of tabs in the top rows of the crown.

 

The hatband was an old chain belt my sis found 2nd hand for us (Thanks sis!).  The dreads were a last minute add on that were clipped into the inside of the hat using small inexpensive lanyard hooks.  There are a couple of dreads on each hook made with mostly acrylic yarn.  I think I'll make a few more to fill it in more.  Mr. Sam wore it with the dreads around the campground at the Texas Renaissance Festival for Steampunk Invasion on Pirate Weekend.  It was really strange seeing him in long hair.  :)



I'm working on getting some more can/bottle goggles finished, and I'd like to make some other larger projects.  But, wrapping up some unfinished tutorials is going to have to come first, I think.  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

New Hat for the Ball

So, what HAVE I been doing as far as tabistry goes lately? Well, I made a quick small hat for the Sky Commodore's Autumn Masquerade Ball a weekend ago.



Finally a hat to match my blue/tan corset.  Yep, another hat!  I'd been pondering what style of hat would look nice with it.  As I mention on my general craft blog (mieljolie.blogspot.com), most of this outfit was stuff I'd already made or found like the corset and underskirts, but I managed to make the new tabistry hat to match my corset and a gold overskirt and sleeves.  And, I pinned the straps from the corset as a decoration on the skirt.



The hat is small and was pretty easy to get made in time.  I finished it in under two days.  :)  More than I can say for the overskirt, which I'm still not happy with.  But, alas, that is a story for my other blog.  I used a gold shoelace attached to the inside to tie and keep the hat on my head.


Since this was a masquerade ball, I was going to make a new mask to match my corset, but I decided to just wear my old one instead.  I think I wore it all of one song before taking the mask off anyway.  I just don't like having things on my face.  Here it was just before it came off for good that night.



I'm working on some other costuming and stuff.  And, I try to work on the tutorials whenever I have spare time, so new tabistry projects just aren't getting done right now.  Among other things, I would like to get another top hat made, and I'm trying to start a new corset for a fairy costume.  We'll see if it gets out of my head and into the world.  Until then, be Can-TAB-ulous!

Beer Goggles and a Tabistry Top Hat

As I mention on my general craft blog, we just got back from attending the Nightmare Machine Paranormal Steampunk Convention in Jefferson Texas. It was organized by the Steampunk Illumination Society. I heard they were having a silent auction to raise money for the nonprofit organization and their plans to fund acquiring a building to host events, so I offered up a tabistry top hat and some "beer goggles" to help the cause.



The top hat was an experiment. I plan to make one for a friend of ours in the near future, but wanted to get the shape right before making his. I think it turned out pretty close to what I wanted, except that I found I need to make it a wee bit larger.



The goggles were really fun to put together. I tried to use mostly parts from cans on them. The eye pieces are, of course, can tops from Miller Lite. I liked the gold tops to go with the gold rivets I had.



I punched out the mouth opening to see through and put in lenses made of green plastic bottle that is held in with the bottom of the can.



All of this is riveted to the leather sides. I used a wide can tab to attach the strap to the sides. It worked perfectly.



Then, I used another can tab and a short piece of wire to make the buckle in back. Most of the leather was scrap from my mans leather hats.



Above is a close up of the can tab buckle. I got a little bit of shoe polish on the buckle, as you can see. But it rubs off of aluminum pretty easy.



They did really well at the auction. Though we auctioned them separately, they both got to stay together when they went home with some new friends we met while there that came over from Shreveport Louisiana. Great family. I hope the hat and goggles provide as much enjoyment for them as they were for me in making them. Besides making two more possible top hats, I plan to experiment on the goggle idea again in the future, as well.



BTW, I also made a quick monocle out of an aluminum bottle. I talk about that more on my general crafting blog (mieljolie.blogspot.com). Thanks for stoppin' in!