My First Ribbon Attachment!

[Not-Bogart13]

I have often wondered if I would be able to get a ribbon onto a hat with any success, especially with my poor attention span and impatience. Not to mention, I never wanted to ruin a hat in the attempt.

Well, I finally took the nose-dive with a Henchel straw hat that I never wear because I don't care for the thin chin-cord/hatband thing on it. Now, I know my work is not as attractive as many others' first attempts (especially the bow), but keep in mind the following;
1. I did not read about or get guidance on ribbon and bow work at all. My work was based purely on having admired the completed work of others.
2. The ribbon materials were scavenged, did not exactly match, and I didn't have as much as I really needed to do it right. The bow is hiding a 1 1/2 inch gap in ribbon! lol

 

["Skeet" McD]

NB, Can't speak for myself, as I've never tried (and that's perhaps a problem, vide infra)...there are many others here that can give you good advice technically...but, you've identified some of the problems yourself; you'll undoubtedly do better with the next one; and, for my money: your first effort is something to be proud of. It's yours. No matter how experienced anyone is....once upon a time, they had just completed their first. I bet there were some that weren't as nice as yours.

Excelsior! Keep up the good work, and good for you for trying!
"Skeet"

 

[RBH]

Looks good!
Only thing I might do differnt is make the keeper a little smaller and tack down the wings of the bow.
Looks like a great start to me!!!

 

[bolthead]

Exactly.....

Looks good!
Only thing I might do differnt is make the keeper a little smaller and tack down the wings of the bow.
Looks like a great start to me!!!

Very good advice.....:eusa_clap

Just a couple of tweaks neighbor.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I did tack the wings, but only the inner loops. I haven't decided if I'm going to tack the outer loops, too, or steam them and flatten them, or what. That's just me not making up my mind. lol

As for the smaller keeper, I agree. But if I do it on this particular hat, the ribbon gap and rough edges will become apparent. So, the bow is kind of oversized by necessity, to hide something worse. If I do another, it won't be with remnants.

 

[Belegnole]

Looking good NB.....For a work in progress and a first attempt I can't say that I would do as well. I am however getting ready to do my own soon.

 

[jazzncocktails]

Nice, NB! You took the plunge and you've got a good, functioning bow here, and I like the larger "knot" between the bow ends. It's a little daunting to take that on, isn't it? I was sure I was going to ruin my hat when I tried it...And as you suggested, my only thought is to tack down the bow ends and see how it looks laying flat. But given what you said about the lid before, it looks like you've made an improvement.

 

[tonyb]

You made a hat you'll happily wear out of one you didn't. What's not to like?

Any idea what sort of ribbon that is? You know, its fiber content? I ask because cotton/rayon blend is easier to work with than the polyester stuff, and generally better looking, too.

 

[tonyb]

2. The ribbon materials were scavenged, did not exactly match, and I didn't have as much as I really needed to do it right. The bow is hiding a 1 1/2 inch gap in ribbon! lol

It's the norm to cover a "gap" in the band ribbon with the bow. There are other ways to do it, such as crafting the band and bow from one continuous length of ribbon, but the method you followed -- the band and bow as separate sections -- is much more common.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I think the main ribbon might have been a blend, but the bow material was probably 100% poly. It's very shiny.

The only hat ribbons I have ever pulled off were from straws, and they have all been completely around the crown, no gap, ends stitched together with the bow to hide the stitches. The bad bow work on a couple of my factory hats shows the ends a little, and I see that the ribbon is cut at an angle or folded to taper with the contour of the bow so that the middle can be tighter. I needed a longer ribbon to do a tapered end, but I would love to try it. I will be looking for a cheap hat or two when I go to Boston in May... fresh subjects for my experiments! :kick: Mwahahahaha!

(I may even try the one-piece idea... I can picture that in my head!)

 

[rrog]

Hey, I'd wear it! Good job.

rrog

 

[Akubra Man]

I am impressed by what you did there. :eusa_clap I have tried to attach new ribbons to hats and this is not an easy task. Good on you Sir.

 

[JPMcAdara]

I think you did a great job!! Isn't there some Zen proverb that talks about how something does not have to be perfect for it to be perfect??