Refashion Runway: Kentucky Derby Hat

When I saw that Kentucky Derby Hat was on the last of the Refashion Runway challenges, I was ecstatic. Every year I refashion a hat to wear during my annual Kentucky Derby Party. My personal goal was to make it far enough into the competition to be able to make the Derby hat....and I made it!
I had this hat laying around since last year's derby refashion. Plus every Derby hat needs a fashionable dress to match!

The Hat:

I grabbed some fabric spray paint (which is super fun to use) from JoAnn's. I sprayed underneath the brim with the white paint and the whole outside with the rose gold paint (swoon!)
Over the years I have accumulated a basket FULL of faux flowers from Michaels, JoAnns, Hobby Lobby and even Dollar Tree! I took a look through my stash of faux flowers and found a few pieces that I think would tie my hat to my floral dress!



I added this beautiful pearl and sheer ribbon I also had stashed in my ribbon box!

While the white paint underneath the brim was still wet I laid the hat down on some white lace material I had and carefully cut the width of the hat out. Let that dry!
I cut 3 long pieces of this silver sparkle tulle and folded them accordion style and stitched the ends together.

Now to fire up the hot glue gun! I began piecing my hat arrangement together. First some pink cattails and the silver sparkle tulle.

Some feathers and blue flowers.

Roses to match the dress material.

Lastly, I finished up adding the flowers and leaves. I always like to make my arrangements on the back of the hat.
The Dress:

I removed the sleeves and cut the dress at the waistline.

The front of the dress had buttons, which I removed and stitched together the front seams. Then took the sides in and cropped it short (bold move for myself)!

Since the Kentucky Derby is a spring sport, what better way than to celebrate spring fashion than with a wrap skirt! The original dress came with was matching sash. I sewed a casing at the top of the dress to fit the original sash. On one side of the dress, I made a buttonhole, which will be used to thread the sash through so it can be tied together.

Hey Y'All it's Derby Time! (Not really, it's February and 18 degrees outside Burr!)

I paired my hat and dress with these vintage shoes that were my mother's wedding shoes and then my wedding shoes :)





I told you making Derby hats is my most favorite thing! Here are my past hats and now my most current hat!



Happy Refashioning!!!

Don't forget to vote for this week's challenge!