Vogue V8405, beautiful hats

Vogue V8405 is a sewing pattern for four hats, lined and in four different variations. The sewing pattern is especially a fun experiment.  If you have never made any hats before... it is a great starter for sure.

Vogue V8405
The sewing pattern from Vogue is categorized as: Accessories, no designer is mentioned. The hats are offered in different variations. The variations are in the top of the hat (= top), here is a choice between round and egg-shaped. Variations in the crown (= crown) and the brim (= edge). From a fairly simple hat (Model B. to a hat with a lot of allure (Model A).

Sewing skills
The sewing pattern does not contain any advice regarding your sewing skills. We think this sewing pattern will be easy to make is you have an average sewing level. The hats do not require any special sewing techniques but it is a bit tricky to sew in the round (sewing the top of the hat to the crown) and to deal with stiff fabrics.

The decorations make the hats very beautiful and unique. You can also add your own variations and, for example, opt for more color or larger decorations.

Recommended fabrics:
The recommended fabrics for these hats are:

• twill
  
• embroidered twill
• raw silk
• piqué
  
• jacquard
• decorative fabrics
• canvas

You also need interfacings (preferably 'hair canvas' = horsehair interfacing), lining fabric (preferably stiff fabric), cotton, cotton mixes and decorative ribbon, band or twill tape. The last mentioned fabric in the list of fabrics is the best to start with: canvas. This is an easy fabric and stiff and firm enough to make hats. The other fabrics are just too soft and flexible. If you want your hat to stay in shape, you won't be able to do it with a flexible fabric and non-woven fabric. You really need a stiff fabric to keep the shape and to prevent the brim (= brim) of the hat from hanging down.

How do you know which model suits you best?
Every head is different because of the shape and the hair. One has an elongated head, the other has a round babyface. In terms of hair, it is of course also different for everyone. Some women don't go out without first styling their hair up with lots of spray, others have fine and thin hair and let it hang neatly and just as easily put on a cap or hat. It often takes a while to find out what suits you best for a model. Of course it also has to do with the rest of your clothing and styling. Do you like casual and trendy or are you more the classic type who likes to wear timeless clothing?

Your own preference and the occasions also play a role: will the cap or hat be for everyday use or for a special occasion?

Tip: put on hats and caps as much as you can to learn and see if they suits your looks. In stores (if allowed) or from others. You will notice that some models make your face and appearance more beautiful and others really don't look good. Getting advice in a hat store is a plus. The sellers have a lot of experience and immediately notice which type of hats and caps suits your face shape, haircut and personal style the best.

Making all the models!
I decided to make all models from the Vogue V8405 sewing pattern. This does not have to cost  a fortune. You can use canvas fabric, interfacings and fabric leftovers. We chose the same fabric for all hats so that we could compare them properly.

At first, we preferred model A and one member of the team chose model C. So you can see that at first sight, everybody has its own taste. Making the hats was not difficult. The instructions are clear and do not forget to always cut triangles at the curves so that there is no unnecessary tension or stretch on the edges. Working with 'Hair canvas' was very pleasant. You can roughly thread this reinforcement on the inside so that it does not shift.

We did notice that the hats were larger than expected. You can also see this in the picture, the hats really slide over the face and are therefore a bit too widen.

Don forget to iron & press!
Iron the hats as much as possible to help the fabric get into shape.  Provide a good tailor's ham so that you can press the hat around nicely.

Model A.

Model B.

Model C.

Model D.

Which model do you like best?
After a while all models were ready and eventually opinions turned out to be quite different. Model C was rated most, than Model B and Model A. Model D's top was rated the best as it is the only model which is  with an egg-forming top. Model A tends to hang. Extra, extra and extra reinforcement is really necessary here, because even turning the top was hardly possible.

In the end we are most satisfied with model D (because of the top and the fit) and Model A: we will make some new hats with other fabrics.

Gobelin is the best hat-fabric!
A (the first three photos above) and model D we remade from Gobelin fabric. This fabric is very pleasant because it is stiff enough for a hat, but flexible enough for a sewing machine. Most sewing machines can handle even two layers with hair canvas in the middle.
Gobelin fabrics are often not cheap, but you can also choose to sew the inside of the hat with a different fabric. Or in a beautiful contrasting color.

Variations on a theme
Finally, we made model A again in an asymmetrical shape, made of a golden jacquard fabric and decorated with a lot of tulle. The hat is immediately a special-occasion hat and very striking while only minor adjustments have been made.

This is the nice thing about making hats yourself. You can make something unique, choose your own perfect model and give a hat as grotesque or as subtle as you wish.

Summarized:
Vogue V8405 is a sewing pattern for four models of hats. We recommend making all models first with a leftover-fabric or a cheap (stiff!) type of fabric. After that you will be able to check the size and especially the model that suits you best. Because of the beautiful photos of Vogue, this is very difficult to estimate.

The hats are not difficult to make, but choose especially stiff and firm fabrics. Cut out as many triangles around the curves as possible, to make the curves better, round shaped and press the fabric into shape as much as you can.