Lace mini hats

I have been working on the embroidery and on new Regency stays and I am finding they are both taking so long.  I really wanted a quick project as a pick me up that I could finish in 1-2 days.  I decided to make a mini top hat using the free standing lace machine embroidery patterns from Urban Threads . My embroidery machine is so very old that it requires constant babysitting while stitching but this was perfect as I could work on my hand embroidery while my machine stitched away.  For those who have never done this sort of thing before, there are great tutorials on Urban Threads, but I have included some pictures here anyway.  The only major change I do from the basic tutorials is that I find I need to double layer the water soluble interfacing or it completely falls apart with my machine. I have made 2 of these little hats.  The teal colored one is a mini tricorn and the brown is a mini top pat.  You can see here the stitched pieces with the top of the hat still stuck in the water soluble stabilizer. 

After the embroidery is done,  I cut away as much of the stabilizer as possible and then dissolved the remaining stabilizer in really hot water.  This takes forever, and the stabilizer feels like sticky glue on your pieces if you don't get all of it out.  After the stabilizer was gone and the pieces were dry, I just stitch the pieces together.  The Urban Threads tutorial suggests using your machine, I am worried I will just break a ton of needles so I always hand stitch the pieces together.  Below is the finished base for the blue tricorn hat without any decoration.

Here is the brown top hat with decoration added.

Front

Side

Back

 

 

I actually made this top hat for my Tentacle Kitty plush to wear at Conventions with me, although I may wear it myself at times.  So here is Tentacle Kitty with her new hat.