Hattendum

When I made the black version of simplicity 1587 I thought it would go very nicely with a bright red cardigan. I was right, but I thought it wanted another red in the outfit and I took it into my head that I would like to make a co-ordinating pillbox hat. This would have been Thursday. I knew that Saturday would be my last chance for a photoshoot for a while so that was my deadline. I did some googling and appealed to my friend, who owns an original pillbox hat, for some photos and measurements. That evening was spent making paper mockups to get the size right - and hemming the purple dress, because I needed that for Saturday too.

Friday after work I immediately cut the buckram, wadding and fabric so I could be sewing it together while at youth group. The outside of the hat is made from faux suede left over from my Esther costume. As well as matching nicely, I wanted a textured fabric that would have some grip on my slippery hair. The hat is lined with leftover dress fabric because I had that immediately on hand.

For construction I opted to forgo blocking (because time and inexperience) and instead cut a circle (with tabs) and a rectangle and sewed them together. I wired only the lower edge of the hat as the top seemed quite stable without. I’m not certain that the wired edge isn’t slightly smaller than the top. I was eyeballing it and I think it should be just a few millimetres bigger, but I don’t know if the whole hat is too small or just that edge.

I have wadding on both sides of the top piece and a layer around the outside of the crown. Once I had the top and inside of the hat covered I put a band around the outside. I wanted this to have a bit of body from the hat so I wrapped my fabric around another strip of wadding. By this time I was at band practice and sewing every second I wasn’t singing, and then in the carpark while waiting to pick up my mum. Turns out the steering wheel makes a very convenient sewing stand.

I got the hat done just in time. We had been planning on an outdoor shoot but the weather was very overcast and windy. The hat stays on pretty well against a breeze; it wasn’t going to survive that.

Generally I’ve found that if you’re in public in weird clothes with a person toting a camera, people seem to assume you’re meant to be there. At one point another person with a camera joined in and took a photo as well. An elderly gentleman, who told me he owned 400 hats, asked about mine and was disappointed to find it wasn’t made properly. I’ll block the next one, promise.