Happy Wednesday, Dolls! So amongst all the conversation of my own body fears and the way I view myself in a pencil skirt on my last post, I did also mention I made something spectacular. The Nope Beret! And in the interest of sharing, I’ve created a little photo tutorial so you can make your own embellished beret!

Here’s what you need;

• Beret (duh)
• Haberdashery Trim (Ric Rac, Rope, pom poms – the choice is yours!)
• Polystyrene
• Pins
• Needle and Thread, or fabric glue

I know you’re thinking “Why do I need polystyrene?” But this is an important step if you’re using anything that isn’t flat! Simply trace around your beret, cut out a polystyrene disk and stick it inside the hat.

This creates a nice even surface for you to work with, but also is easily stab-able! If you’re using flat trim and fabric glue you can still use this method, but I wouldn’t suggest if for flat trim and sewing. I know because I tested it, and it’s just so much easier to just pin flat to the fabric of the beret instead.

Once you’ve got your stabby-beret all set up, the world is your oyster! I’d decided to use this gold-toned rope I’ve had in my stash for a few years spelling out “Nope” after I realised how much time I spent shouting the phrase at men in the street. Yep, I made a conscious fashion decision based on cat-calling. It’s quite empowering, honestly.

But we’ll get back to the tutorial, shall we? This is the simple and fun part of designing your hat – you just push the pins through the trim and beret until you hit the polystyrene! From then on you’ll spend roughly an hour getting frustrated with how it doesn’t look how you imagined, forgetting how to spell words, and wondering how people write a ‘P’. I know this through experience. I mean, how DO you write a ‘P’?

But after faffing about you’ll have a layout you’re happy with, your ‘P’ will look less alien, and you’ve stabbed the polystyrene in frustration more times than you care to admit. Use short stitches with a matching thread to your trim to permanently attach to your beret! Somewhat fiddly, (especially with behemoth nails) but so worth it. And it will be ready to wear in less than an hour.

If you’re using fabric glue at this point, there’s so much less to fiddle with, but I would suggest only using it for flat trims. A rope trim definitely needs a stitch to keep it anchored, but ric-rac would be great for a quick and easy project!

And now you have your own embellished beret! The possibilities of hat style and phrase combinations are endless. Anti-cat-calling phrases on a beret? Your favourite swear word on a sunhat? Or even themes on a deerstalker? The cactus embellishment from my tilt hat in this post would make an amazing beret, I’d say!

But there’s always those that are less crafty and don’t fancy giving it a go. And that’s absolutely fine!  You can always ask real nicely if I’d make you your very own, simply send me an email at MelodyMae(AT)me.com.

Let me know what you think of the tutorial – and if you’d like to see more easy ways of updating and embellishing things on the blog!