I guess 2019 will be The Year of the Hat for me.
I love beading. I like hats. Don’t know why I didn’t stumble into hatbands before, but I’m here now.
The Alexander Hatband was commissioned a little over a year ago by a good friend, a New Zealand-born sculptor moving away from Arizona after two decades here. I’m sorry it took me a year to get to it (and about 3 months to actually make it), but life happens.
This hatband used cotton canvas, acrylic paint, 200 yards of thin polyester thread, 6 yards of thicker waxed polyester cord, a recycled buckle and strap, brown leather, black suede (hidden non-slip backing) Beacon Fabric Glue, leather varnish, 8 needles broken in Service To Art, and at least 3000 size 14 glass seed beads. Each bead is about 1mm across.
The beadwork is sewn on 2 to 3 beads at a time, with doubled stitches for durability. Images are hand-painted, stylized Arizona landscapes under blue skies. Leather finishing consists of a rolled-edge backing and hand-stamped leather end tabs.
The hat belongs to my friend, and is a Goodwill find he stumbled across: an MHT Hat originally priced at between $65 and $90, which he got for $9.
More about this project here. Here’s what the band looks like flattened out.
And yes, I am absolutely insane enough to consider making one for me. I’ve been collecting various hats for a while, and they’re all calling out for added touches.
I originally estimated I’d charge around $300 for this hatband in the open market. I’ll add value on the next ones by using tighter sewing and leather tooling, sterling buckles, and gemstone inlays to create $500 to $600 bands.