Anne's Hat of Buttercups and Roses

 "Her hat was a little, flat, glossy, new sailor, the extreme plainness of  which had likewise much disappointed Anne, who had permitted herself secret visions of ribbons and flowers. The latter, however, were supplied before Anne reached the main road, for being confronted halfway down the lane with a golden frenzy of wind-stirred buttercups and a glory of wild roses, Anne promptly and liberally garlanded her hat with a heavy wreath of them."

~Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

Most of my ensemble for our Anne of Green Gables picnic last month was modeled after what the grown-up Anne would have worn, but my hat? That was straight out of Anne's childhood fancies.

Photo by @samithefae

As I listened through Anne of Green Gables to get myself in the mood for the picnic I heard the passage above and went "That's it! That's what I'm doing for my hat! Garlanding it with a heavy wreath of buttercups and roses!"

A quick glance through Edwardian fashion plates on Pinterest showed a hat trimmed thusly, was indeed right on point for the era. So I went to my stash of thrifted straw hats, picked one that would work for a base (a rather flat straw hat with a wide brim), and got started!

The hat I'd chosen unfortunately had some damage to the underside, so the first order of business was to either fix or hide that issue.

Back to Pinterest for inspiration, I came across this hat from the 1910's, held at the MET Museum, with a band of velvet around the underside of the brim.

Ah-ha! I could do that!!

Pink velvet ribbon was unearthed in my stash and sewn on - this was honestly the most tedious and time consuming part of the hat trimming process.

Photo by @samithefae

Once that ribbon was securely in place (and looking fantastic if I do say so myself!) the fun part could happen!

At a local farmers market/craft fair I picked up two pink, soft, hand made, and dyed, wooden roses. They were absolutely lovely, but it would have been cost prohibitive to do the whole hat in these. So, to supplement, I picked up some fake roses and buttercups at the craft store. Flowers obtained, there was still the question of what other trimming would go on the hat. Anne's fancied ribbons, or something else?

I pulled several options from my stash, and returned to Pinterest to settle the matter. 

I decided I really liked the look of the tulle on this hat (sold on Etsy several years ago apparently), so I decided to do something similar.

Funnily enough, I happened to have a piece of tulle, just about the right size, hanging out on my dining room table. A gift had come to me wrapped in it the week before. (Free trimmings!! Who could complain!?) I arranged said gift-wrap tulle around the brim of my hat, and it was perfect!

 Next up, the flowers! I gave the two wooden roses stems of floral wire, disassembled the store-bought floral bunches to give myself individual flowers to work with, and set about arranging.

Once I was pleased with the wreath of flowers I hand-sewed them in place.

The final touch was a green ribbon bow on the back of the hat - then it was done and ready to wear!

Photo by @samithefae

The perfect topper for my Anne Edwardian outfit!

Photo by @samithefae

I believe Anne Shirley would approve whole-heartedly!