A few months ago I had an email from LeAnn in Minnesota asking if I could make a couple of small hats to decorate the cake for her wedding party. She explained that it was going to be a bit different and sent me a photo of the cake design to work from. The cake was to be 'Mad Hatter' style and as the theme of the day would be hats she also wondered if I could come up with something that could be worn by a very special guest...her yorkshire terrier!
I created a lady's bridal from from ivory silk and used the fuschia and lime green accents such as feathers and rose to match the cake. The gents top hat had a lime green silk sash around the crown. Both hats were 12th scale.
Not a great photo below but you get the idea...
And of course the hat for Wimsey, the Yorkie. This hat was larger, of lime green silk and without the wired structure that I use often on my smaller hats. The inside was lined with soft cotton print and I took care to make sure that the ribbon had lots of length to allow it to be loosely tied. I don't have any small dogs and wasn't sure what my neighbours' reactions would be if I asked to borrow one of theirs so settled for a toy lion as a model...
LeAnn was thrilled with the hats and everything arrived in time...just! She promised photos and I imagined that she would get round to sending me some when she returned from her honeymoon...
Well...I received the photos this week and was so excited to see the hats on the cake until my daughter happened to say "Mum, have you seen the names on the cake?" Duh! It just hadn't entered my head! The 'wedding party' was for the Royal wedding and LeAnn and her friends had had the wonderful idea of celebrating it this way. She laughed when I told her and sent me the following:
Oh my gosh - I didn't go into detail about the wedding party because I thought we sounded just a little crazy! ...A couple of my friends had about 20 people over the night before the royal wedding, where we played shower games testing our knowledge of the royals (pretty much zero in my case). We ended with a slumber party and early morning tea and scones as we watched the wedding. Most of the decorations came over from England - and of course I had the Spanish addition with your lovely hats. ...I have Wimsey's hat in my office, where the lovely colors and feathers cheer me up...
We all went a little crazy over the party - it was just too much fun! Everyone had to wear a hat (you can just imagine what our Minnesota hats are typically made of!) Of course I don't own a hat and so hit the internet - which is how I stumbled onto your wonderful web site and discovered your beautiful hats. And then it dawned on me I would be certain to win the best hat contest if Wimsey arrived in one of your hats! (Which he did - and we won a fabulous prize!)
...As we stepped into the party, everyone rushed out at us - just like paparazzi - madly snapping his picture. My husband took him home quickly, but he did have a grand entrance!
And here they are...
I will be working on more 1/48 pieces over the next few weeks. I'd love to hear what you think :)
