Hats!

I have a big head. There. I said it on my blog. The problem with a big head is that I can never find a hat that fits. At least, not inexpensive, mass produced hats. Nothing cute, certainly. And like most clothes that don’t fit properly, a jammed down hat looks terrible, feels bad, and leaves a red welt across the forehead. No good!

How long have I been complaining about this problem? I’m sure Ali can tell you. I’ve known her for about 12 years, WOW, and we’ve gone over and over this. She is my one girlfriend that can totally relate. I’ve finally decided to take matters into my own hands (and super swank sewing machine) and make my own hats. Serious. I had a too tight bucket hat from The Gap that I hadn’t worn for a few years but held onto anyway. Sometimes being a pack rat is good. I picked it apart, totally, and made the band and top bigger by an inch and a half, and voila.

Hat 1, the test run chapeau, I cut from an old shirt destined for donation and some gingham scraps laying around. I used the interfacing from the original hat in the brim and made binding from scraps leftover from my yellow log cabin quilt. Somehow the brim makes it so I can not see a thing when I wear this one but I don’t mind.

Hat 2 was a little more planned and clearly turned out much better. I specifically picked out fabric at The Workroom (but don’t ask what they are, I don’t remember), one is upholstery weight and the other is quilting cotton. Pink because Martha Stewart says all women should wear something pink near their face to improve complexion. This hat is my favourite hat I have made, so far, for me. This hat has no binding because I figured out how to sew the 2 parts together. With no interfacing on hand, I used scraps of quilt batting.

Hat 3 I made for Shannon using the fabric he had printed at Spoonflower. It’s also upholstery weight but it was stiffer and a little trickier to sew. Of course I did a little fussy cutting and put the three of us front and centre. This hat is full on crazy looking and I love it. The lining is a pretty batik that I got at Walmart.

Hat 4 worked up quickly, I really have the hang of them now. I have to tweak the pattern a little to make things a little smoother but it’s pretty good. This hat is made of a Tula Pink print (LOVE IT!) and a purple lining.

So. I’ve already had a couple people ask for hats and while I’m more than happy to keep churning them out, at least for now, I’m not making them in any other sizes. They are big, like, 25″. I’m also total crap at mailing anything so it would have to be picked up, irl. Then we could hug and would that be the worst thing in the world? If you’re semi serious and still want one, please email me, my name like this blog and I use gmail.