All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations Part 5

 All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations Part 5

Back to Preparations. As one part is so short I have lumped it together. Feathers and Net Preparation.

Forage Feathers

 

I needed some Feathers to add to my hat so I went on a Forage around town picking up all the Pidgeon Feathers I could find. It seemed that I had a great many but once I had sorted them I found very few were suitable as they were damaged.

I had also forgotten that Feathers from opposite Wings would lean different ways and since I only wanted one direction that diminished the collection further.

Feather and Ink

 

Here is a trick I learnt from lovely Laura. I wanted Black Feathers so I used a Permanent Black Marker Pen to Colour them in. I also had the foresight to put paper underneath so I didn’t mark the table.

Double and Secure

 

I Cut a Length of Net. I wanted it slightly Thicker so I Doubled it over and Secured it with some Thread.

Right Fold

 

I took roughly a Fingers Width of Net from the Right Hand Side and Folded it Back on itself towards the Middle. I then Secured it with a few Stitches.

Second Fold

 

I moved across to the Right and Duplicated the Process. I now had my second Fold. I kept doing this till I reached the End and Trimmed any Net left over.

Completed Fold

 

I then proceeded to repeat this technique on the other side only this time I was Folding to the Left. Once finished I spread out the Folds a little.

This particular piece of Folded Net is to go on the Back of the Hat.

Neighbourhood Watch Banner 2019

Neighbourhood Watch Banner 2019

This year I held a triple celebration. It was my Birthday, 20 years of being a resident where I live and last but not least 15 years since I set up a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme I therefore decided to throw a party combining these events

Naturally when making the Banner I picked one of the most difficult materials to work with - Net.

Give me an H

I used Net as I had a large piece to recycle. Speaking of which I sought out bits and pieces of the Owl material I had left. I thought using Owls was ideal for the Watch Banner.

I cut out strips to make the Letters N, H and W. I then glued them together.

Secure Thread

Now came the difficult part. I had to sew the Letters to the Net. First of all I secured the thread with a couple of Stitches.

Sew at Top

I started with the Letter H as that was the middle section and therefore I would be able to place the other Letters evenly either side.

I sewed the Owl material to the Net at the top of both sections of the Letter H.

Missing N

As I feared moving the Owl material around whilst working has inevitably led to pieces coming apart.

Sew Across

I have gone back to all my glued Letters and before adding them to the Net I have sewn them at the cross sections. I then proceeded to go back and finish sewing the H in place at both the top and bottom.

Placing W

Now the H was firmly in place I could measure whereabouts on the Net to place the W then the N.

NHW Placement

In the photograph above you can see the N, H and W sewn onto the Net. The next part was to be able to attach the Banner to where it needed to go.

Holey Hell

The top part of the Banner was going to be attached to the fence by drawing pins. The bottom however needed to be tied.

By time I had finished adding the Letters to the Net this was the state of the bottom. I therefore had to mend the bottom before I could go any further. I had an idea.

Ties for Banner

I folded the Net over and sewed. This mended the rips and provided a section that I could sew the Ties on to.

NHW Banner in Place

Here is the Banner in place. It isn’t meant to be a work of art merely an indicator of where the party is being held. All in all with it being a rush job and the materials I had at hand I was quite pleased. At least everybody found me – and of course the cakes.