Ties to Swirly Hat

Ties are SOO cool to work with....

I have this box full of them and I recently published an instructable on how to make a padded glasses case.
Alex in NZ commented and this sparked the idea for

THE HAT!!!

- ties (the ones I used were in part complete and in part remains from earlier projects. I needed the wide top parts)

- aluminum wire plus pliers plus tongs

- a glass head to model the hat onto

- sewing machine

- my first idea was to do something with loads of eyes, that was what the cotton balls were for (did not do it after all)

- not just eyes also teeth, that‘s what the lace trim was for (didn‘t do that either)

Before I started sewing I measured my head and then picked the right number of ties.
Six.
I then sewed the first inch or so of the ties together. After that I put them on the glass head and designed the rest of the hat directly there.

I realized, that one inch wouldn‘t be enough to really start shaping the hat, so I sewed the first 10 cms (4 inches) of the ties together.
Then I layed the ties over the glass head and fixed them in place with needles. I sewed the first seam and then repeated the same mirrorwise on the other side.
I worked my way around the head until I had a very nice hatshape.

NOW the fun part!

I took some aliminum wire and rounded the tips so that they wouldn‘t pierce the fabric.

I then inserted one wire per tie and pushed it all the way to the tip.
Then I took the longest tie and wound it around all the ties to form something like a knot for a ponytail.

Now I formed and shaped and loved the look!

I will have to use hairpins to fasten the hat to my head, but I am SOO looking forward to wearing it!

😀🦑🎩