Sewing an Easter Bonnet
Sewing your own Easter bonnet can be both a fun afternoon art project and a way to express your unique style and flair for the dramatic. Easter bonnets are a key component in parades across the country, but they have their origins in a time long before the Easter holiday was celebrated. Bonnets are derived from the wreaths that people created and wore to celebrate the arrival of spring. Channel this seasonal energy and joy de vivre, and allow it to enter into your Easter bonnet creation. Your party hat should be a celebration of life.
Materials
- Hat
- Ribbon
- Colorful Fabric
- Fake flowers
- Small stuffed animals or birds
- Fake eggs, or if you're brave, eggs made from chocolate or candy
- Various household trinkets small enough to fit on a hat; distinctly you
- Other decorating material: feathers, glitter and wire. Whatever strikes your fancy
- A glue gun and hot glue
- Sewing needle and thread
Directions
A straw hat is one of the most popular base hats used to create Easter bonnets; the weave will make it easy to attach doodads without damaging the hat, and the wide brim gives you a lot of surface area upon which to express yourself. Baseball caps work too, as do thick headbands or novelty rabbit ears. If you’re looking to go low budget, punch holes in the sides of a paper plate and string a ribbon through them to tie under your chin.
Sew a band of fabric around the crown of the hat. Don’t be afraid to go big; don’t be afraid to go bunchy. Once this fabric is in place sew or glue fake flowers, stuffed animals, eggs and trinkets. The more elaborate the better; this isn’t the time or place to be worry about being loud. Feel free to incorporate feathers, butterflies, wire and glitter. Use a color palate of purples pinks or blues, or throw caution to the wind and use a veritable rainbow. Using your hot glue gun, your needle and your intuition, piece together a whimsical landscape that simply screams spring.
Or, if something understated is more your style, keep it simple with a cluster of flowers behind the ear, and a wide bow in the back of the bonnet (use your hot glue gun to fasten the edges of the bow so they sit straight and proud on the back of your head). Add a fake bird or egg to give the most minimal impression of a spring garden.
Once your hat construction is complete, sew or glue a ribbon or another long swath of fabric to both sides. You want to be able to tie a big Easter bow under your chin. Let any hot glue dry and then give your hat a gentle shake to make sure all your materials are secure (you wouldn’t want any of your beautiful creation falling off as you’re strutting your stuff in the Easter parade).
Then, set that hat on your head in an angle jaunty enough for the beautiful spring weather, tie that ribbon and you’re ready to go!
