The short series loosely called ‘Containers for Special Objects’ finally comes to a close.

There were five containers in total.  Each one had been inspired by a shell.

The trinket Box

An Egg

A basket

Parasol & Holder

Miser’s Purse

There were some scraps left over so I couldn’t resist trying to see what way I could use them up.

I had been looking at a magazine in the hairdresser’s earlier in the day while waiting my turn to be made beautiful…  The article that caught my eye was about Royal HATS.  The late Queen Mother was centre stage with a typical broad sweeping brimmed hat that became her signature.  For many years it looked like all her outfits were the one style with a change in colour or pattern to ring the changes.  The upward sweeping brimmed hat softened her ageing face.

Playing with the shells in the afternoon that Royal hat was still in my mind.  The shell that stood out for me was a small one.

The curve of the shell on the right reminded me of the hat brim.

The dome shape for the stand came from inside a Kinder Surprise Egg.

Kinder Eggs with Capsules and the toys they held

I used half of a toy capsule and covered it with a layer of wadding and a plain yellow lawn fabric.  I overlaid the yellow base with some off cuts that I had for the miser’s purse.  A second layer was placed over the top and tied in place with some of the copper thread in a similar manner to the decorative ribbon on a hat.

Then came the messy fun part – painting adhesive paste onto the excess fabric forming the brim.  I trimmed it into the shape required before using the paste.  I curled the upper part of the brim around a pencil and held it in place for about ten minutes.  It was still damp so I used a hair dryer on a cool setting to gently dry the fabric.

No Royal hat is complete without a good hatpin so I added beads to long sewing pins and covered them with the same fabric.

Tulle Hat from scraps

My extra container was a pincushion!

Next week I hope to have another little project for you.