Downton Inspired Accessories and Hair

This past week I shared two dresses I made that were inspired by the Dowton Abbey era (a black flapper dress and a fancy lace dress), and now we'll focus a bit on 1920's accessories and hair.

I love all the hats from Downton Abbey and found a great hat pattern from Elsewhen Millinery on etsy. The Madeline Hat is the one I chose and made. The pattern was easy to follow, quick to sew, and can be made for children or adults. I love how the brim can be turned up or left down. (Next week you'll even have a chance to win a hat pattern of your choice from Elsewhen Millinery! Be sure to follow CharmingDoodle on bloglovin so you don't miss the giveaway announcements!)

But underneath that hat is some 1920's style hair. I scoured the web to learn how to do the finger wave like the Downton girls have. I found two different tutorials that helped: this one shows how to do it using a curling iron, and I found another that did it with just a brush and pin style but can't find the link now (sorry!).

With my girls I decided to try both techniques. For Isa, we just sprayed her hair with water and then combed and pinned it into shape. LOTS of hairspray was used on her because her hair is so fine and doesn't hold curl well.
Emma has naturally curly hair so I tried rollers on her. They didn't work particularly well. I ended up just twisting her hair up. I'm not sure how to do this style with her curly hair but maybe someday I'll try again.

Isa's hair held decently well, although I'm mystified as to how the Downton Abbey hairdressers get the deep waves. This took over an hour of playing with it to just get a small wave. Oh well! It's still cute.

When I think of 1920s hair I also think about feathers and pretty accessories. The girls each got to try different head pieces and loved the new 'jewelry.'

I'm so looking forward to next week's featured bloggers as they share more 1920s inspiration. If you want to play along just comment with a link to your blog post, or use the hashtag #downtonsewing on social media so I can feature your project.