Back in mid May 2011 I discovered this tutorial and decided I have to give it a try, despite I've never made a bonnet before - considering in the end the Opera Bonnet won the April Flowers Contest on egl, I suppose the result is not that bad:-)

A small funny fact: the bonnet actually got its name due to the fact I had several Russian and Czech operas on repeat non-stop when I worked on it, particularly Eugeny Onegin and an older version of Rusalka. I think without Dvořák and Tchaikovsky I'd never ever have finished this.
The moral of the story? Opera is good for willpower!XD

The initial state:




The 1st mock-up:


Progress:



Halfway done:


Pretty much finished:

I may add a bit of lace here and there, but I think it's very close to being finished.

The tutorial I followed to make this: http://www.darlinganddash.com/strawbonnet.html 
Materials used: Habotai silk, cotton for backing the silk, voile for the ruching, vintage net lace, cluny lace, 
                        synthetic ribbon, fabric roses
Start date: 15. 5. 2011
Finish date: 4. 1. 2012

Oh, and perhaps a little sample from the playlist:-)