...and a hat for me

 

After making up the girls new sunhats, and before I put the pattern away, I thought I would quickly make up a hat for me. The upsized pattern fitted me too, and I had an old laundry bag hanging around in my stash, which I knew would work really well for a summer sunhat. Here it is:

Sunhat

Laundry Bag

The laundry bag was an off white cotton twill, but quite thin and floppy. After the frame broke, I kept it as a good neutral, because you never know. There was plenty of fabric to work with and I didn't mind it looking quite worn in before I started. 

I lined it with cream polycotton, previously used for the waistband of my Garden Skirt, and the under collar of my Yellow Spot Shirt. Another good basic that comes out when needed. 

I pinched out 5mm from the side seams at the point where the crown meets the brim. It made the edges a bit wonky but I smoothed them out in the joining.  My hat is smaller than the childrens' hats. I used taupe thread and did two rows of topstitching over the brim. The girls think it is a bit plain! But I know I am going to get plenty of wear out of this, keeping me from ageing too much faster.

Costs:

  Fabric: upcycled laundry bag, £0.00

  Lining: gift from Mum, £0.00

  Pattern: Oliver & S Bucket Hat, £0.00

  Interfacing: £0.10

  Thread: purchased for Vogue Coat, £0.00

Total: 10p

White Sunhats

I've been waiting to make these hats for a long time, and some gloriously sunny weather, over a long weekend, finally prompted me to get on with it. That, plus a self-imposed rule that I complete one thing for me, and one thing for the girls each month. These were May.

I had quite a few frogs to eat, to get these made. First, I had to re-size a pattern, then I had to find some very old, stashed supplies. It's lovely to have things to hand, but it is also hard to look them out and find them when you want them. Easier to buy at the time, and make the project then and there.

But, back to the hats. E had this adorable hat when she was about 4-5 years old. I got it from Target in Australia and she wore it a lot. It went with everything, and looked really cute. I was very sorry when they grew out of it, but it has taken me about 5 years to recreate it. I finally got my Mum to SMS me this picture of the picture - because she has it up in her house, and I couldn't be bothered looking through my photo archives for it. I got the trim from eBay, and I knew my white cotton twill would be perfect. 


Their last two sunhats, red and starburst (blue-ish) have become too small. I had made the largest size of the Oliver & S Bucket Hat, so I knew I needed to increase the sizing of the pattern. Google showed me this tutorial for increasing a size in a pattern, so I used this as my starting point. I also looked at the changes between sizes of the hat, and tried to mimic the amount of change to take it up another size. 

Then I cut out a toile from an old white business shirt. I forgot to flare out the edge of the brim to make it broader, and decided to leave it out of the real hat, because the trim made the brim heavy, and I would not have had enough. I decided to add about 3/4 of an inch through the sides of the crown too.

I finally got on with this project on Friday when I had a day off and we were set for a run of sunny days. I wanted the girls to actually have them, you know, this summer. I didn't quite meet my target of that afternoon, for two hats, but I was pretty close.

I couldn't find my white quilting cotton for lining, so I used two old business shirts. They worked really well. There was no problem joining the two different weights of fabric, and the twill is very heavy so it was nicer to pair it with a light fabric for the lining. 

I joined the brim seams with a 1.5cm seam allowance (all others are 1cm). I interfaced with medium weight interfacing. 

Trimming them was really fun. I used light pink thread for attaching and just did it by machine. I did three bands of top stitching around the brim. The yellow doesn't really show up, so I put that closest to the lace. I had just three motifs left over: two butterflies and one flower. I supplemented these with buttons from my button jar, including two ladybirds that I have had for years. It was nice to find a worthy home for them. I didn't do any embroidery on the side of the crown. The original hat has this, but I left it off.

I finished off by hand stitching the lining down where the crown meets the brim. I'd like to trim the underside of the brim with a narrow ribbon. The hat is a bit plain up by the face, more so on the butterfly one, the flowers hang over the edge more. 

Costs:
   Fabric: £3.19
   Lining: £0.00
   Interfacing: £1.12
   Trim: £4.98
   Thread: stash
Total: £9.29 (£4.65 each)

Summer Doll Outfit

Now that Winter has taken a firm hold of the skies above this rainy, dark island, it is the perfect time to make a summer outfit for those dolls.

This pale blue crochet cotton has been giving me the eye ever since my mother salvaged it from the kerbside rubbish pickup in Australia. It is a lovely weight and colour and I am so delighted that I could take something that was being thrown away and enjoy the process of turning it into something new that will be enjoyed in turn.

First attempt = #fail

Since I didn't know how much was on the ball, I started with a doll hat. Pattern linked from my Ravelry notes. I do like these Elaine Phillips doll patterns, generously given away. The gauge was way off. I made the whole hat with the 2.5mm hook and it came out ridiculously small.
I didn't swatch, I just pulled it out and remade with my favourite size hook, the 4mm. It came out great.

The pattern has the crown continuing to increase as it moves down towards the hat band. This changes the shape into more of a bonnet, the brim re-enforces that effect. I liked the hat much better once I had added the ribbon, which pulled the whole thing in a little more. I left off the last row of the brim because I wanted to conserve yarn. This size frames the face nicely and a larger brim will get floppy quickly.

The Summer Top is made from the same yarn, in the same style, by the same pattern designer. It actually uses less yarn than the hat. Those dolls have big heads. Luckily they don't mind wearing a top that is a bit sheer, but this wouldn't transfer into a human garment without a lining, or a vest underneath.

I upsized my hook again and mistakenly increased too much over the first few rows. I used them up in the sleeve caps, which have 4 fan stitches each, instead of 3. Lucky I did, because the sleeves are a perfect fit, if not a little on the small side.

I added a few more repeats of the shell stitch down through the body, about two extra, to take the top to just below the doll's waist.

I liked the outfit so much, I bought some more crochet cotton (3 ply) to make more! I love this yarn! Every time I discover a new yarn, it becomes my new favourite. Then I buy loads of it so I can have matching colourways to make new things. I restrained myself with just a turquoise and a white this time. Reasoning that the second ball is required to reduce the cost of shipping for both. (£8 for one, £12 for two - should have got three!) When it arrived, I thought it was way to thin and almost sent it back. But when I compared it to the original baby blue, it was exactly the same.

The skirts are made up from some scraps of broderie anglaise that my mother in law had stashed. It was a long, skinny scrap, looking a lot like a table runner. I used 3 widths of it for the skirt and made French seams. I wanted a ribbon tie waistband, but that would be too fiddly for children, so elastic it was. I kept the length below the knee. I'm going to help Big Sis make one of these for her BFF.

Festival of Faux Fur – Doll outfit

Well, the dolls are certainly ready for some cold weather. The elves have been crafting a flurry of faux fur accessories for them, and they will be ready and waiting under the tree on Christmas morning.

First up, two winter hats. Released by Pleasant Company, the creator of American Girl, and still available deep within the bowels of Google, Samantha’s Pretty Clothes pattern collection includes a winter hat in the style of a tam / beret. I’ve had this white fur for years, buying it in a rash promise to make Santa hats for the children. It came out to trim the doll’sbaking aprons last year, but otherwise has sat around unused. I learned my lessons though and didn’t cut this with a rotary cutter – which slices through the fur pile in a horrible way. Instead, I drew the pattern on to the back with chalk and then snipped out - only the backing - with embroidery scissors. This keeps the fur intact and actually makes very little mess. I even had a remnant of white satin which my mother had bought the children as fun scraps. This went into the lining of the hats. I didn’t follow the pattern instructions exactly, I couldn’t figure out how to make a channel for the elastic without sewing through the fur pile so I sewed the elastic loop to the seam allowance and then turned and closed by hand.

The Samantha hat was a bit larger and shallower than I was imagining. I wanted more of a Russian style fur hat, so I improvised another one with a smaller diameter and a deeper crown (9cm). It came out a little large, but since the dolls aren’t doing any strenuous activity, I think I got away with it.

The cape is my favourite part of this whole outfit. It was ridiculously quick and easy. No seam finishing, no lining, no hem. Just cut it out, two side seams, front hem closed by hand, attach the ribbon to the neckline and cut the bottom hem evenly. I used the cape I made for Halloween as a template, but shortened the length to 20 cm. It would also be cute even shorter. I think I’d better make another one about 15cm long. I left it unlined because I didn’t want it slipping around on the dolls shoulders. They don’t need the warmth, or the comfort, of a lining. The ribbon makes the whole thing ultra-luxe. I was hunting in my ribbon stash for a black one, but then came across this white grosgrain with gold edging. It arrived last year as part of the gorgeous wrapping that Kirsten at Wrapsody did for us last Christmas.  Amazing!

Finally, the skirt: This pink babycord was a pair of toddler knickers matching a dress. My kids never wore knickers over their nappies. I trained them to be ladylike as young as possible, and not show their knickers. (Kidding! I just couldn’t be bothered peeling off even more layers with every nappy change.) But, for some reason, I kept the pants. After my successful refashion of a summer pair, I had these in mind for a winter pair, with white accent. This pair took some time because the elastic was sewn to the casing, not in a channel, so it meant lots, and lots, of unpicking. But it was worth it: the waistband went back into the skirt, one leg into the hat, and the other leg into a ballet bun. Once something is on my sewing table, I feel a compulsion to keep going until I have used up every last scrap. I added the white ribbon to hide the top of the fur trim, which doesn’t work well when turned over and is really ugly if left raw.

I tried to use another pattern from the clothing set, gaiters, but they just looked like yeti feet so I abandoned them. I might try cutting the pile shorter, because... furry boots!

I think the elves might be in trouble if they only supply one snowy outfit so I have one more week to make a vest, some boots and maybe a navy skirt. Probably another cape too. That is in addition to the summer outfits coming up and the school uniform that I think would be so much fun. Those elves better stop loafing on the sofa with their crochet every evening.

 

Doll Witch Hat & Trick-or-Treat Bag

 

I can finally say that the dolls are ready for Halloween! I'm sure I've put more time and effort into one doll's costume than I have for both my children's costumes. That's not a problem, is it? 

A hat is obviously the defining piece for any witch worth her broomstick. (Broomstick? I guess I am not quite finished...) This hat was very easy to put together by hand using a small rectangle of felt from the dollar store. I cut it into two unequal pieces, one for the crown and one for the brim. I rolled the larger piece into a cone shape, stitched the edges down, then trimmed the bottom flat. The brim is a circle, with the centre circle cut out.

It is small for the dolls head, so I decided to secure it by using one of the doll's plastic hairbands. I used an old hair elastic to make two elastic loops on the underside. These can be used to slide the hat on to the headband. They were bar-tacked in place by machine. The hatband is from the refashion that kept on giving: a strip of knit fabric, hand sewn into place.

I made two doll size trick-or-treat bags. They both came from one more rectangle of black felt. I cut off a strip along the long edge and used this for the side pieces. The handles are ribbon and the motifs are table confetti, glued into place.

Cost: £0.00

Doll hat and scarf

The leaves are blowing across the lawn, the nights are getting shorter, and colder. Our thoughts turn to Winter, getting cosy and knitting.

Naturally, I thought of the dolls first...

I had this 4ply yarn in navy and thought it was a good weight and colour for them.  I made up the patterns as I went along.

First, the scarf is 9 stitches, knit in garter stitch, with seed stitch for a few rows to edge.

The hat is 74 stitches, ribbed edge, then stocking stitch for about 1.5 inches. I knit 2 together 6 times around the crown to decrease. I did the decreases every second row until the last 2-3 rows when I made them every row. Finally, I pulled the last 8 stitches through the remaining yarn and weaved in to finish.

Floral Bucket Hats

Two more Oliver & S Bucket Hats to match the new outfits. I made them together, assembly line style, and got them done in about a day.

I made the same modification as I did the first time I made them: adding 1.5cm at the brim. Next time, I will grade out the side seams of the brim to get less of a bucket and more of a sunhat. The wider brim comes down very low.

Rather than make them reversible, these are lined in the same fabric, the Isle of Wight polycotton. I wanted to use it all up. The hat does take quite a lot of fabric. The brims are very curved and it is not possible to lay them out in such a way that one cut line forms the next cut for the next pattern piece. I confess that I did not line up all the brims on grain, you can get a lot more hat for your fabric if you ignore grainlines. I figured with the heavy interfacing, and floppy brim, grain was not  going to matter overly much. I kept all the crown pieces on grain.

I ran out of polycotton for the last brim piece so I used a piece of red quilting cotton. I was too stingy to make the whole inside brim of the red but this makes a nice sunshade and helps us to tell the two hats apart.

I assembled the final hats in the same way as last time, following the instructions up to the very end and then stitching the inside crown by hand. I had no other external stitching and no hatband so I didn’t want the stitching to show from the machine finishing.

These are a really cute addition to the outfits, I recommend making them any time you have about 50 - 75cm left over. Plus, with a free pattern and leftover fabric, they are almost a free hat!

Cosy Cabled Hat

This hat actually took about a day to knit but it has taken me a week because of the number of times I restarted it. I struggled to get a neat cast on for the brim; everything I tried and then joined in the round looked like a mess because of the stretching caused by the magic loop method. In the end, I did a single cast on with two extra stitches and knit back and forth until the fabric was stable. Then I could join without distorting the hat. I seamed the open part afterwards and it has come out really well.

I'm not sure about the size and shape, the pattern is for an adult but this one is better for a child. I can wear it but it stretches and makes the cables look ugly. I have enough yarn left that I will make this again for me (I have a pullover that I am matching this to). For an adult size, I am going to add one more set of cables (8 sts) and continue for one more inch or so before decreasing.

Ravelry notes here.

Starburst Fabric roundup

Here's what I got from this 2 meters of quilting cotton:
 2 dresses
 2 hats
 2 teddy bear carriers

The cost per garment ended up at an incredible £1.91 per item! Including shipping.

Additional items:
 Fabric: 2x fat quarters for dress yokes @ £2.00 ea
 Patterns: self-drafted or free
 Thread: stash
 Interfacing: stash
 Buttons: stash
 New tools: not required

Total
 Dresses: £3.91 each
 Hats: £1.91 each
 Teddy carriers: £1.91 each

I guess, sometimes, sewing does cost less than buying!

Two Hats

These hats and dresses were my last hurrah for Summer.

After I finished the Starburst Dresses I asked Little One if she wanted something particular from the leftover fabric.  "A hattie!" was the reply.

Cue the free pattern from Oliver & S: the Reversible Bucket Hat.  Thanks so much!  It's a great pattern with gorgeous photography and illustrations.  The size Large was the perfect fit for both their noggins.

In addition to the Starburst cotton, I used the trusty old shirts for the reverse (which in this case will most likely be a lining).  Little Sis got the same bright blue as the lining of her Scooter Basket and Big Sis got the same palest blue as went into the bodice of the Butterfly Dress.  Total cost: £0.00 (although I am tempted to cost the dresses at £5.00 each and the hats at £2.75 each).

I added 1.5cm to the brim size and used heavyweight interfacing instead of medium.  A variation I might try in the future would be to keep the larger brim, increase the width of it to a full circle and leave out, or lighten, the interfacing to make a floppy hat. 

I didn't attach the crown B as per the instructions, I pressed under and then topstitched it to the brim.  I used contrasting thread for all the topstitching, turquoise for Big Sis and blue for Little Sis.  I didn't do the optional rows of stitching around the brim, partly for reasons of getting them finished in time for the end of August and partly because the brims were already so heavily interfaced that I didn't want to stiffen them further.

I should probably carry on and add a hatband of bias binding, it would add some variation and cover up my messy stitching.  Maybe a bow, or a detachable rosette.  But I almost never revisit a project, so they are more likely to stay this way forever!

Although I really like the pattern (if you're going to make a hat, make this one), I did not particularly enjoy sewing a hat.  I found all the joining on the curve frustrating and my edges did not line up smoothly.  There is a lot of cutting out in general and trimming of seam allowances in particular.  (Thank goodness for my rotary cutter!)  That said, this may be my first project where I have enjoyed assembling the second item more than the first.  Usually I get bored by the second project, but this one was more of a challenge, so I enjoyed the satisfaction of making the second one better, neater and way faster.