Briar Rose

I custom-made this one for a friend of mine, who, along with putting up with my constant dissection of the ins and outs of hat-making over Gmail chat, has been nice enough to spread the word about this whole venture to her not-inconsiderable podcast audience. Because she loves pink (to the point of occasionally dyeing her hair in a particularly brilliant shade) yet also expressed interest in a blue-themed hat, I immediately thought of Princess Aurora's dress from Disney's Sleeping Beauty. I always enjoyed the scene where the three fairies made her dress and fought over the color, and when I found this changeable pink/blue taffeta I knew it would be perfect. In keeping with the Sleeping Beauty theme, I used embroidered black rose trim. The best part is that my friend is a knitter, and spends a lot of time spinning her own yarn-- hence, the "spinning wheel" undertheme fits right in!

Briar Rose:
Dark and blossomy, the Briar Rose takes its inspiration from the original Sleeping Beauty story and its more cheerful counterpart, the Disney version. This hat features a jet-black acrylic jewel crowned with brass filigree and accented by tiny rhinestones, while dainty brass flowers hand-sewn with glass pearls peek out from either side. Like the princess's tower, the entire hat is encircled by lush black roses, in the form of rose-patterned and sequined venise lace, and two large embroidered rose appliques bloom on the opposite side. The hat-band, made of changeable iridescent taffeta in shades of pink and blue, is a nod to the animated movie, and the entire hat is finished off with a majestic ostrich plume in inky black, highlighted with sparkling black and fuschia rhinestones.