Applying mull to buckram

Mulling with Felt

You will need a small amount of fusable adhesive, such as Heat and Bond, Stitch Witchery or Steam a Seam, and a wire brush. This will be added to the cutting layout section of the pattern. Sorry guys! This is why we have a beta test after all! :)

The main thing to keep in mind about the mull layer, is that it's purpose is to smooth and soften the buckram form. Felt is obviously heavier than cotton flannel, so steps need to be taken so that the seam allowance doesn't cause a ridge of layered fabric.

I have come up with two solutions to this problem. You will be using both methods, one for internal, and one for external application.

When you go to cut out the brim and crown pieces cut off the seam allowances. You will need 2 of each piece. Because felt is not woven, you can place your pieces anywhere on your felt. You will also need to cut a half inch strip of felt about 13 inches long.

For the interior application, you can, if you choose, use a three-stage zig zag and a specialty foot with a center bar to join the crown to brim abutted. Abutted means edge to edge.

Or you can attach the brim and crown pieces separately to the buckram form (obviously matching centers) and whip stitch the crown to the brim. I choose to attach the brim to crown by hand as I feel like I have more control that way. I use a whip stitch to do this. My stitches are loose so that they do not create a ridge.

For exterior application you will attach the brim and crown pieces to the back room form separately. The pieces will leave a small gap where the brim and crown meet. Using your steam a seam or whatever fusible adhesive you are using, apply adhesive to the gap between crown and bream. Now apply that 13"x1/2" strip of felt. Using a wire brush, brush the felt strip so that its edges are blurred. Now you can pat, trim and brush at the felt strips until the transition between crown and brim is smooth.

<self back pat>
I've never seen anyone else mull a bonnet in this way, but to be honest, I think it's the smoothest and most seamless method I've ever seen.
</self back pat>

At this point you are ready to put your fashion layer on your bonnet. :) as a bonus I did a video of using steam to soften the buckrams glue to temperarily hold down the mull layer.

Mulling with cotton flannel

Before cutting into your pattern, you should make a few copies. Depending on the pattern peice your going to need different seam allowances.

Covering a buckram form is not as difficult as it would seem. If you take easy steps to ensure success, this project should not take long to complete. First of all you should have all of your materials ready. Don't prewash, unless you are allergic to sizing, it's not bad to leave the factory finish on materials for your bonnet. Also keep in mind that you cannot get your bonnet wet. Buckram is sized with glue. The glue is water soluble and will disintegrate when wet. So don't go out in the rain in your bonnet.     

The main reasoning behind prewashing your fabric in sewing projects, is to preshrink your material before you make it into a garment. This implies that you would actually wash on your bonnet which you're not going to do! So why go through the hassle of  prewashing your fabric?  What you should do however, is make sure all of your fabrics have been pressed with a good amount of steam. You're going to want to make sure that all of your grain lines are square so that you can find the bias.

You're going to cut 2 on the bias of both the brim and crown pieces. Using whatever is your favorite method of marking, mark the seam lines on both the brim and crown pieces. My favorite method is using pins and wax tailor chalk. I pin through my pattern and both layers of fabric and using my wax chalk I mark the seam allowance. You will also need to  mark the center line.

Once you have made all of your marks, match right side to wrong side. It doesn't matter if the crown is stacked on top of the brim, or the brim is on top of the crown. You need to however, match centre marks and pin running down the seam.

You are doing this strange seam consconstruction to reduce on seam bulk. The purpose of the mull layer is to smooth and soften the buckram form. You want to reduce as many bumps as possible. 

Using a three-stage  zig zag stitch, sew the crown and brim together. Do this to both the the exterior and interior layers. Once the seams are done, trim your seam allowances to as close as possible without cutting the sewing threads. Trim both the brim and crown seam allowances.

To apply the mull layer to the buckram form, you will be sewing through the buckram form and into the mull. You can either do this by machine or by hand. One trick I have learned though, to temporarily attach the mull to the buckram form, is to use a small amount of steam from your iron and soften the buckrams glue. This will stick down the mull long enough to be able to sew it in place.