plumage

[isabelladangelo]

For the German hat, make the hat base first.  Put the feathers on top of the hat base (the crown and brim) and sew them downs.  Then put another velvet "circle" over the feathers.  This will give you a proper German hat.

As for the collar, yes, it's all gold - which would be a lot lighter than it looks.  I have a few bracelets made in a similar way.  I'll take pictures of them later. 

[Orphena]

This is not for Gem's particular project, but last week I was trying to figure out a way to mount a LOT of feathers onto a tricorn for our Pirate Festival, and I came up with an idea that you might find interesting... My tricorn was made from a giant straw sun hat (black) that I added lace to, and stitched up the sides. then I took a small block of floral foam - intended for artificial flower arranging, and used that to arrange my feathers. The foam was cut small enough to fit in the space between the crown and the pinned up brim, and a hat pin keeps it from sliding out. Overall,it was FAR faster than stitching or wiring each in place, and less of a commitment than glueing. Now, due to the fact that I used a LOTof feathers, the hat did tend to tilt a bit to the side (and the wind had fun flirting with all those feathers!), but if your crown fits close enough, or you don't go quite as overboard as I did, the foam itself it quite light, and is easily trimmed......Depending on your project, you may find it helpful, so I thought I would share!

[gem]

Orphena, that is very clever! I know that they sell rings of floral foam here, meant to go in wreath frames. I wonder if something like that would be narrow enough to fit in the space between the crown and the brim (my hat is also made from a straw sunhat base). The foam is pretty easy to cut, isn't it?  (I know there's the oasis kind, meant to hold water, but there's also the green styrofoam kind just meant to hold dry flowers.)

I was already trying to think if there was something to use--like a mesh or plastic canvas--that you could kind of weave the stems of the feathers through.

I placed my order, and with shipping, a dozen 15-18" plumes ended up being around $35.00. Not a fabulous bargain, but not entirely unaffordable, either. (shrug)

[arbcoind]

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Plumage assembled. 

I did not have any luck with sewing the feathers together.  This method didn't seem sturdy enough for the rigors of faire.  I used very small clear colored zip ties to join the feathers at the base.  The I used a larger black zip tie to join them to the cone pin.  I was able to hide the zip ties under the cone pin.    This pin will slip into the fabric loop on my cavalier and tri corn hats.

Gina

[gem]

So I have my feathers; they look awesome (although when I arrayed them on the hat, Milord looked at it--keep in mind that you cannot see the hat through the profusion of feathers--and said, "Do you need more?"  ). They're nicely fluffy and weren't damaged or bent at all in transit.

Some of them have pretty curved shafts, though. Should I cut the shafts off or trim them shorter? Should I bend/flatten them somehow? (Iron them, maybe?)

I have twelve, and they're going around a large, German-style "platter hat" (like this). The size they are now, they fit perfectly arrayed in a circle around the crown (sort of like the strings in this picture), but that's a lot of feather shaft on top of the brim. If I trimmed off the shafts, I could put them in so they point straight out, like the rays of the sun.  Milord thinks the "string art" way will offer more stability, but it also seems like it will be really, really bulky.  Not sure what's the best approach.

ETA: I found a great tutorial on Powwows.com for ironing feathers (a totally fascinating look into a different hobby!), which convinced me my first efforts were too gentle. I held the feather in one hand with an oven mitt, and then pressed the heck out of the shaft (the naked, unfrondy bit) with a hot iron for about 30 seconds. It was easier to press the convex curve downward toward the ironing board, than the other way. Once the shaft was hot enough, I then straightened it by hand (the oven-mitted hand--they get HOT and don't cool down right away). I put the straightened feathers under a stack of heavy books to cool overnight.

[amh2008]

I have also found some good quality plumes at http://www.eventswholesale.com/ostrich-feathers/
Just make sure you know the difference between drabs and plumes before you place your order.  The plumes are nice and full, while the drabs are a little less plush but still very nice if you are on a budget.