Fine-feathered Hatbands

Image Gallery Elizabeth glues each feather into place PHOTOS BY ALLAN BOYER

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Highlight some headgear...give a great looking gift...or produce a profit.

My husband and I just hate to see anything go to waste when there ought to be a use for it. So when—during a drive to town—we encountered a dead pheasant that had been hit by a car ... we naturally stopped to pick the bird up.

After all, we couldn't leave the fowl's incredibly beautiful feathers— copperred, green, brown, and white—just lying there (we natural—born scroungers have an instinct for such potentially useful raw material). So Allan and I collected the unfortunate bird ... skinned it ... salted the hide down ... and stashed it in the garage to dry.

Before too long, however, the feathered leather found its way into the house, where it had a habit of falling out of closets (and onto people's heads) ... or being stuffed into one dark corner or another ... while we waited until some use —we knew we'd find one—would suggest itself.

THE PERFECT PURPOSE

Sure enough, it wasn't long before I spotted a hatband made of feathers ... and discovered our pheasant's true calling. The first thing we did was to tear up the skin (now dry and almost brittle), and separate the clusters of feathers into groups with similar colors and patterns. (The hide "backing" holds the clumps together until we're ready to use the individual feathers ... and thus eliminates "pheasant blizzards" when somebody opens the door unexpectedly. This sorting method also keeps the plumage's natural patterns intact, and gives a better impression of how the feathers should fall for the most "artistic" effect.)

While the "dress" of any colorful bird can be used to create attractive hatbands, the variety of feathers found on a pheasant allows a craftsperson to get half a dozen totally different effects from one hide. The neck feathers provide a rich, coppery color ... the bird's shoulder areas, with their brown and white design, are particularly effective ... while the gray-green, plumy feathers near the tail can be turned into a marvelously exotic creation.

EASY AND ELEGANT

We found that making feather hatbands is an easy craft, and requires few special tools or materials. You'll need scissors, glue, leather, a hole punch of some sort, and possibly a knife. (Use the dull edge of the latter tool to uncrimp feathers that have a little too much curl in them.) As to the plumage itself, ask your hunting friends (if you don't "forage" wild game yourself) for their bird skins, or—as we do—simply watch for fresh road kills at any time of the year.

The first step in hatband production is to cut some thin suede into a strip about three-quarters of an inch wide and 24 inches long. Tack the leather—at both ends—to a board to keep it flat or, better still, tape the ends around a cylindrical object (we use the cardboard can that once held our daughter's blocks) to make the band dry in a curve so the glue won't crack when the finished decoration is wrapped around a hat.

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