By guest author Verity of The Light Garden
"The Fez has an interesting history – it was originally adopted as the universal hat for males in the Ottoman Empire as part of modernizing reforms in 1826. Then it was itself banned in 1925 in reforms to modernize what had then become the Republic of Turkey. You can find out more about the history of the Fez here. With all that history behind the Fez, it makes a fun dress up for kids! My son Yashar loves his so much that when it got squashed I knew we had to make a new one!
Turkish Fez
Materials:
Red material (we used a synthetic velvet)
Black material for lining the hat
Black embroidery thread or string
Card (cardboard)
Scissors
Strong quick drying glue
**A tip – if you want to do this with little ones that might get a little restless (like my 2 year old!) then I suggest preparing steps 1 to 4 beforehand.
Step 1: On some card, draw 2 circles 5.5 inches in diameter. Then draw one arc shape as shown in red in the photo below. To draw nice smooth arcs I used a pencil tied to some string like a large compass. Otherwise just wing it and draw the arc shapes freehand!
Step 2: Cut out the 3 shapes (2 circles and 1 arc)
Step 3: Pin one of the circles and the arc shape on the back of the red fabric and trace around each with a marker or pen. Cut out the circle, leaving an extra half inch of fabric around the edge. Cut out the arc leaving an extra half inch of fabric at the bottom and sides (but not the top) – as in the photo below.
Step 4: Then do the same as the step above with the black fabric lining. But this time, when cutting the fabric for the arc don’t leave any extra fabric at the bottom and sides.
Step 5: Glue one of the cardboard circles in the center of the back of the red circle of fabric. Snip around the edges of the fabric hanging over the card and then fold it over the edge and glue down. Do the same with the second circle of card and the black fabric.
Step 6: Take the black embroidery thread and cut about 30 lengths each 9.5 inches long. Gather them all together and tie a knot in the middle. Sew the knotted end to the middle of the red fabric covered circle.
Step 7: Take the arc shaped piece of card and draw a line about half an inch from the top, following the curve and use this as a guide to cut little teeth all the way along, as in the photo below. Fold over each little tooth.
Step 8: Glue the arc black fabric to one side of the arc shaped card. Then glue the other side to the back of the red fabric arc shape. Fold the fabric hanging over the bottom and sides and glue down (you might need to snip little triangles out of the fabric here and there to get it to fold over and glue nicely). Cut the top of the fabric with little teeth as we did with the piece of card.
Step 9: Bend the arc shape around and glue together at the join to form the side of the hat. To give it a little extra strength I sewed along the join with a needle and thread. Put a generous amount of glue on the teeth around the top and put the red fabric covered circle on top. Turn the hat upside down and, using plenty of glue, stick the black covered circle inside to the top circle, sandwiching the little teeth in between. Leave to dry. If you find that the top comes loose at all during play, you can sew a few stitches with needle and thread to strengthen it.
Now your little one will be all set to
rule the Ottoman Empire!"
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Turkey is brought to you by guest blogger, Verity, of The Light Garden. Verity, originally from Australia, lives in Istanbul with her young son and Turkish-born husband. She is a talented artist and illustrator (just take a look at her work!) and blogs about living the expat life in Turkey. To learn more about Turkey check out Verity's blog for many lovely photos, yummy recipes, and to see her son, Yashar, in his Fez!
If you have any questions about Turkey
please leave them in the comments in the
next few days and Verity will answer them!
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Links of interest:
Turkey at Wikipedia
Turkey at The World Factbook
list of interesting facts about Turkey
whirling dervish video
whirling dervish information
amazing natural landforms at Cappadocia
