I wore this to a nautical themed night out and my hat actually got a round of applause!  So I thought it would be a good one to add here.  Sorry there are no pictures, but I’ve only needed to make the one hat, which I did before this site.  However, you should be able to make it no problem.  If you need any extra help, please ask in the comments.

It'll go really well with our Nautical Helm bracelet!

You will need:

• Fabric – I used a stiff fabric called interfacing, which you can easily get in fabric shops
•          If you don’t want to use a very stiff fabric, you could create the fascinator from cardboard and cover it with fabric.
• Cardboard or plastic circle to form the base
• Felt
• Ribbon
• Fabric glue or a glue gun (I prefer a glue gun)
• Sellotape
• Headband
• Pen
• Mirror (to judge where the hat will sit)
• Scissors
• Decorations – I used a metal anchor charm, but buttons, rope, boats, seagulls etc would all work well too

1.  Start by cutting out a circle of cardboard or plastic (I used a plastic lid from M&S biscuits!).  The size will depend on the size you want your fascinator, which are generally smaller than a real hat.  My completed fascinator measures 11cm diameter, you should make the diameter of the circle slightly bigger than the completed fascinator because you are going to fold it over to create a peak.

2.  Cut a straight line from the edge to the centre of the circle.

3.  Overlap the cardboard/plastic to create a peak.  Stick this is place using glue and maybe sellotape to secure.

4.  Put the base to one side and use the stiff fabric for the next bit.  Cut out a circle of fabric which is a little bigger than the base.

5.  Cut out a strip of fabric which will form the side of the hat.  This needs to be long enough to go all the way around the circle of fabric and have a little overlap.  It also needs to be deep enough to more than cover the peak of the base!

6.  What we need to understand at this point, is that we are going to turn the fabric inside out for the final hat.  So taking the circle of fabric, fold a slight lip all around the edge.  Use the glue to stick this lip to the edge of the long strip of fabric.

7.  Turn the hat over so the sides are sticking up.  Fold around the circle to reinforce the shape.  Fold the sides over so there is a small ridge of double material all around the hat at what is now the top.  Reinforce this ridge by pressing on the edge of the fabric.  The side will be longer than you want and this is important to hold the base in place and keep the shape of the hat.

8.  Take the base and insert it peak side up inside the fabric.  You want the peak to ever so slightly raise the middle of the hat.  Turning the hat so you are looking at the inside, start to fold the fabric over the base so that it is now inside the fabric.  Use glue to secure the base inside the fabric.

9.  This gives a rough finish, as you can see the base so you will want to cover this up.  Felt is a good material to do this.  Cut out a circle of felt which is big enough to cover the base completely (you might notice than mine is a bit small!)  Cut a slit in this to the centre and repeat the wrap over to create a peak that you did with the base.  Stick this onto the base.

10.  To attach the headband, I find it easiest on this hat to create loops of fabric that secure the headband to the felt on the base.  I make these out of the same felt so they are not obvious.  You could cover the whole of the headband on the base or just at each side as I have done.

11.  Put the headband on and use a mirror to work out where you want the fascinator positioned.  Mark the spot with your fingers or a pen which will write on the headband.

12.  This is where a glue gun really helps, because it can create lumps of glue which help stick the headband on.

13.  As you can see, I have two lumps of glue at either side which help secure the headband, as well as the strips of felt.  Wait for this to dry before trying it on, glue and hair is a bad mix trust me!

14.  Decorate the hat as to your design; this is how I did it:

• I used thin strips of blue and red ribbon around the outside edge.  I then glued on the anchor charm.
• To create the bow, first I stuck thin ribbon to two strips of ribbon, which create the tails of the bow.  I cut the edges at an angle and used a little glue to seal them.
• I created loops of ribbon and stuck these together for the loops of the bow and then covered the join with another loop of ribbon.  I stuck this onto to hat to complete the bow.
• Finally I used a pen to mark on the top the ridges you see in cartoon sailor hats.