The direction you desire the feathers to point significantly affects the attachment point 2 on the hat.įor example, if an upward-pointing composition is desired, stitch the 2nd attachment point, so the feather is perpendicular to the band, pointing up in the desired direction.Ĭuring the barb of an ostrich feather using the edge of a scissor blade.Sometimes I leave this loose depending on how much movement I want in the next tie point.

Pull the attached feather in as tight as desired into the band area.

You can stitch a tape of bound feathers or individual felt feathers in too.

On the inside of the hat, tie the two threads together, use a bow knot, or for a more permanent setting a couple of double knots.

There needs to be a good amount of the hat in the tied stitch to support the feather. You don’t want the insertion too close for both threads.

Then thread and pull the second thread through within a 1/4 inch radius to the first thread insertion.

To start, thread one of the two threads at the lower quill tie-off point on the feather and pass it through the crown’s base at the brim’s articulation-basically, the area where a hat band would occur on a modern hat style from now on, I will call it “band”.

Inside view of knotted thread inside a hat without lining. To achieve this, I will thread a smaller needle with a loop of 12 or more inches (or use the remaining thread from the other ties), then puncture and create a tie point about 1/2 way down the feather.

For really long feathers and complicated round arrangements, you may want a 3rd tie point.

Leave long tails, 6-8 inches, and cut the thread. For longer feathers, I will jump 2-3 inches along the feather’s rachis, then create another tie point repeating the puncture and tie off again. The length of the feather will determine how far you want to move out along the feather.

The remaining length and needle, move out along the feathers rachis away from the quill end to secure another tie point.

The thread and knots should be tight and secure these will serve as the attachment points to the hat. Tie the long end with the needle, looping it around the feather, and securing with a double or triple knot.

Leave approximately 6 inches or more of the two threads as trailing end.

A hat pin or large veil pin works well for attaching feathers to hats.Ĭlose up of attachment point 1 and 2 with tie threads. I have seen complex arrangements that are pinned. With feathers set in tape, I will pin then stitch them into the hat.įor attaching less than 3 feathers or felt prep’d feathers pinning is a reasonable method.

When stitching/tieing feathers in, I will use a loopy bow for the first pass before finalizing with double knots.

Order the feathers of complex arrangements and keep track of the sequence.

I generally will take a picture and, if possible, have the person try the hat on to check the placement.

Planning the feather placement is especially important for complex arrangements like 16th-century German hats. Figure out the preferred spots for the feathers and directions they will need to point based on the style you wish to achieve. Start by placing the feathers in the hat on a form or model.Top to bottom, small black ostrich drab, medium white ostrich drab, and medium natural ostrich wing feather. They are a wholesaler, so you either have to buy a ton of feathers, or go in with several people. Swalef & Son as my feather supplier, and you can find more information about types of ostrich feathers available to purchase there if interested. Additionally, I will refer to ostrich drab or wing feathers. I do not have extant examples or a list of historical sources for these methods however, it employs methods and materials available in most periods.įor this article, I have created a simplified drawing with some feather terminology in avian biology, the terms are much more involved and vary by type of feather, e.g., primary flight, contour, tail, etc.

For the sake of this presentation, I will just be discussing attaching feathers to wool or other cloth hats.

Other creators, like Whilja’s Corner use similar methods too and their sites are listed in the Awesomesauce References at the end of this article. There are many more ways to attach feathers and obtain the desired look. This blog article will describe the methods I use to attach feathers to hats and covers some techniques for shaping ostrich feathers. Landsknecht style dockenbaret with ostrich feathers, side view.

Feather pins for hats