Just Sew: Honeymoon Hat

Woo-hoo!  I made the big time and am posting a tutorial over at Project Run and Play today.  All month they are featuring bloggers from their sew along group in Flickr.  I've been working on these fun hats to sell at the textile collective over the holidays.  They are based on a felted wool hat I picked up on my honeymoon seventeen years ago this month.  Be sure to check out my tutorial plus all the others this month.

This tutorial features a hat made from t-shirts, but the same pattern works for old sweaters, sweatshirts, and fleece.  I have also experimented with some groovy suit fabric, but it doesn't have any stretch and I haven't developed a consistent pattern for it yet.  So, after you have settled on some fabric with some stretch, you are going to cut out panels for the main part of the hat.

For a hat sized 0-2T cut one 5x6" and four 3x6" rectangles (five panels total) and one 6" circle.

For a hat sized 3T-7 cut one 5x7" and four 4x7" rectangles (five panels total) and one 7 1/2" circle.

For a hat sized 8&up cut one 5x8" and five 4x8" rectangles (six panels total) and one 9" circle.

 

Pin and sew panels together (if your fabric has a right side, do it right sides together) creating the body of the hat.  When pinning, take care to line up the tops of the panels that will eventually be sewn to the circle to form the crown of the hat.  It does not matter if the bottoms of your rectangles are uneven, as they will just get folded up into the brim.  Many people feel you can only work with knit fabric if you have a serger, but a zig zag on top of a straight stitch is really just as effective.

 You can now pin the circle to the hat.  Turn the body of the hat inside out and begin pinning the edge of the circle to the tops of your rectangle.  I sew around first with a straight stitch, and then go back over it with a zig zag to give it a little more structure.

 Flip the hat right side out and finish with another zig zag around the exposed crown of the hat.  This step is optional if you like the shape of the hat without it.  Again, I like the structure it adds to the hat.  These sew up pretty quickly (30 to 45 minutes) and although the original Honeymoon Hat shows no signs of wear and tear, it will be nice to have some different color choices.

Just Sew: Potholder Covers

I have been using the same ratty potholders for years, embarrassed of them when we have company or when I use them to take a dish someplace else.  At one point, I tried using a piece of a heavy wool sweater that had been felted as a potholder, but the heat still seeped through and they did not provide enough protection.

You can probably guess where this was going, but it took me a lot longer to figure it out.  I simply sewed slipcovers for my ugly old potholders out of a felted wool sweater.  It was so easy!  I cut two squares a little larger than my potholders, placed the potholder in the middle, and sewed them together.  I like the exposed edge, but one could turn them inside out after sewing and finish them that way.

They are so cute now!  I chose a colorful striped sweater so I have a lot of coordinating color choices for the other two potholders that are left.  I can't believe it took me as long as it did to figure it out,  but now I am so glad it's done.  I can't wait to show them off at Thanksgiving.

Just Read: Making It

During my last year as an independent bookstore owner I was fortunate enough to meet Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne, authors of Making It:  Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World.  Based in the middle of Los Angeles, they have created a lifestyle that evokes Ma and Pa Ingalls of the Little House books.  They grow their own food, raise their own meat, bake bread almost everyday, and create much of what they need from scratch instead of buying ready-made products.  Ironically, when I picked them up at the ferry terminal to take them to their author event, upon seeing my sewing machine in the back of my car (I must've been giving a lesson that day) they commented they still weren't sewing their own clothes, but it was definitely a goal on their list.

They are part of the Radical Homemaking movement where people take a hard look at their lifestyles and try to rearrange things in order to become producers, rather than consumers.  Shannon Hayes has been chronicling this movement for several years in essays, books, and her blog.  She, like Erik and Kelly and many others, came to the conclusion that they worked forty hours a week just to consume.  They then took the leap and scaled back on their traditional jobs to allow more time to produce and found, in many ways, they were better off, financially, spiritually, etc.  This lifestyle holds a lot of allure for me, and fortunately, our location and situation in life will allow us to pull it off.

That's where Making It becomes such a great resource.  Erik and Kelly worked with the publishers to make the book very accessible and not overwhelming.  Tasks are divided into sections:  Day to Day, Week to Week, Month to Month, and Season to Season.  The reader can tackle one thing at a time, incorporate it into their lives until it becomes part of a routine and then add another.  Topics range from creating hygiene and cleaning products, to gardening, to food preservation and more.  I am still checking off most of the Month to Month tasks, but really like their "recipes" for household products.

Although our family is most likely several years from being able to completely embrace this lifestyle, I do enjoy the sense of satisfaction we get now from the food we do manage to grow and eat, the eggs we collect, and the other items we choose to make ourselves rather than purchase at the store.  And, hopefully, as our children grow up and start their own households, producing will be so normal for them they will not get caught in the trap of consumerism.

Just Sew: Alice in Wonderland Collection

Earlier this summer I agreed to be the featured artist for our local textile collective's First Friday show in October.  Since then I unexpectedly took a full time job at my kids' school which included hours and hours of commuting and training off-island.  Nevertheless(!!!) I was able to deliver my collection in time for the show.  Each look was inspired by a character from Alice in Wonderland.  Each look also did double duty as a sew-a-long entry for Project Run and Play.  Thankfully, I worked two weeks ahead of PR&P's schedule to finish in time for First Friday.  If I hadn't, I would have once again been unable to submit entries for the last two weeks as my life went into super-crazy mode (now I'm just in kinda' crazy mode).

 The photo shoot was hastily done on the one evening my models and I were all available the week of the show between school and sunset.  Even then, our little Cheshire Cat would only crawl (like a kitty, of course!) and had to be photographed separately, anyway.

My son can't wait to wear the t-shirt and blazer to school.  Meanwhile, his younger sister claimed the mini top hat.

 

My favorite shot from that evening.  The sunflowers are so tall it reminded me of Alice being in the garden with the talking flowers.

The collection on display inside the textile collective.  The available space was smaller than I thought and I only put out a tiny portion of my personal Alice collection of books and other items. 

Although I did not put some finishing details on two of the looks and cut one out entirely (Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum)  I am so pleased I was able to complete what I did, both for the First Friday show and for Project Run and Play.  I tried some new techniques and feel I have become a stronger sewer in just two months.  I am grateful for both opportunities and look forward to the next challenge around the bend.

Just Watch: SNL TechTalk iPhone 5

Every once in a while the American public is made aware of the millions of people who make our stuff.  Usually it is through disturbing news like the suicides at Foxconn or the rioting in South Africa.  Last weekend Saturday Night Live managed to put the workers in the spotlight and provided a little perspective when it comes to our expectations regarding new gadgets versus the reality of the workers' lives.  And although we laugh at the sketch, it still puts this topic in the mainstream consciousness.  Hopefully, some people will think twice and do their research once they're done chuckling.

Just Use: Remnant Fabric

As Project Run and Play draws to a close this month and my Alice in Wonderland collection goes on display tomorrow night, it is time to turn my attention to some sewing projects around the house.  We have been in our home for a little over a year, and although we accomplished some pretty major renovations (knocking out two walls, new flooring, building a peninsula in the kitchen) my husband and I are both feeling inspired to get back at it again.  This winter we hope to finish painting, tile the backsplash, install countertops, and paint the kitchen cabinets.  We have also determined our north facing windows need window treatments after all.  It has been tempting to leave all of our windows exposed to keep an illusion of openness despite the small square footage of our house, but we need a little more privacy and a way to block some neighboring light sources on this side of the house.

In order to keep the lines as clean as possible I am making Roman shades.  Normally, I would have checked at the Pacific Fabrics Outlet on 4th in Seattle for any great deals on remnant decorator fabrics.  Unfortunately, they switched this store to a regular retail location earlier this year and I am not sure where their remnants end up now.

So, I have been researching sites dealing specifically in remnants online.  The two I am most excited about are Modern Fabrics and Warehouse Fabric, Inc.  Both have a pretty wide selection of home decorator fabrics that you can buy in yardage (as opposed to precut one-yard samples).  Also, both are reputable and carry recognizable lines of fabric.  Initially, I looked on ebay, but it was difficult to wade through the choices and none of the sellers instilled confidence in case I did not like my purchase.  I find it intimidating to buy fabric or other textiles online without having seen them in person first.  The color might be off and the weight or texture might not work with your project.  Warehouse has a blanket 30 day return policy and Modern considers returns on a case by case basis.

Although the majority of textile waste comes from the garment industry, it certainly exists in every area that produces fabric.  Both sites are run by married couples, and James and Ewa at Modern Fabrics are very pointed about the environmental impact you can make by choosing to use remnants.  If all goes according to plan, I should be posting soon about my purchase and my finished shades.

Just Sew: Boy's Week

With two girls and one boy, I definitely find myself more inspired and motivated to sew for my daughters.  Boys clothes do seem more technical to me and it is hard to make them look cool and not too cutesy and homemade.  Project Run and Play usually incorporates a boy's look challenge into their seasons and this is it.  This week I went with a pretty simple look, dyeing the sweatshirt blazer I made for the Fashion Icon challenge purple and adding some wide "piping" (made from a black t-shirt) for the trim.  My favorite way to dress up a boy is to put him in a t-shirt with a tie applique (using my easy applique techniques found here).  Although these two items will pull double duty this month as the Mad Hatter look for my Alice in Wonderland collection, my son has already asked if he can wear them to school when the show is over at the textile collective (success!).

Originally, I had ambitiously planned a Tweedle Dee/Tweedle Dum look for Boy's Week which included turning sweatpants into tailored, but comfy pinstriped shorts.  However, that was before I took a full-time job at our local elementary school and had to frantically sew during my "spare time" on the weekends.  I do still want to try it, but will probably wait until shorts weather makes its appearance in the Pacific Northwest again, which, realistically is July 2013.

After being met with such enthusiasm for this outfit by my son (don't let the goofy facial expressions fool you) I would like to try something else.  I look forward to being inspired by the designers and other sew-alongers this week.  What's your favorite sewing project for a boy?