Hat from a Pattern

I never use patterns.  I think I like the idea that "I can do it myself."  I must still be two at heart. 

But my little Kewpie Doll needed a hat, because she inherited our pale, pale skin, and I didn't feel courageous enough to figure this out without a pattern.  AND my Mother-in-law had given me a hat pattern two years ago that made this sweet little reversible hat.  Looking at this hat makes me want to go back and line Kewpie's current hat.  The contrasting fabric is rather cute.

Remembering how floppy the hat was last time, I found some stiffer fabric to use this time.  But I didn't want to take the time to make two hats and sew them together, so I only used interfacing on the brim to make it stiffer.  Silly me.  Being in a hurry is what has caused most problems in my life.

If you wanted to, you could probably come up with a pattern for a hat.  It's fairly simple.

First you need the top. I measured and discovered how much Kewpie's head had grown in the past two years, and added a little extra fabric around each pattern piece to accommodate for the larger head.

Then you need a crown, which connects to the top. This pattern cut on the fold, so it looks shorter than it is.  It needs to fit all the way around your head with a little bit of room for a seam.

Then you need a brim, that connects to the crown.





The most difficult part is trying to sew the crown, which is a straight line, to the top, which is circular, and then the brim, which is circular, to the crown, which is straight.

It calls for a lot of easing, and with my simple skills, it never quite turns out professionally.  But perhaps I look at it more critically than anyone else would.

Kewpie loves it, and it protects her sweet little face and that's what counts.  AND it did only take about 30 minutes.

Growing Creatively

Pinterest has changed me.

In the sense that I started growing my garden long before it was warm enough.  I found a pin from skruben.blogspot.com, and once I read her explanation, I had to try it out myself.  As you can tell, it works!

It was such a good idea  They used soda bottles, but we have more juice around than soda.  So you cut it off about 1/3 from the top, poke a hole in the lid, and run a string or yarn through the hole, and then fill the top 1/3 with soil and plant your seeds.  Thoroughly wet everything, and then fill the bottom with water.  The string acts as a wick to pull moisture into the soil when needed, keeping everything at its preferred level of moisture.  And I just have to notice when it has run out of water.

I have enjoyed watching these fellows grow, and I'm almost reluctant to banish them to the garden.

The empty looking container in the middle is oregano.  Look, they're beginning to sprout!

Pants Crazy!

I've been going crazy about making pants!  It was partly motivated by the fact that my Kewpie Doll is sprouting and her pants are shrinking, so she needed some more pants. Part of my motivation is how easy and quick it is to make pants.  Let me show you!  

I traced a pair of Kewpie's pants that fit her well.











And made a pants pattern that I have been using on EVERYTHING!

Notice that I cut two of the same pattern, with the straight line on the fold.  My pattern wasn't as long as Kewpie needs, so I measured her best fitting pants from the crotch to the ankle and used that number to determine the end of her pants.

Remember my summer-time pajamas?  Made from the pattern above.

I really love taking a wide elastic, stretching it across the fabric, and sewing directly to the waist instead of making a casing.  So much easier!  It's helpful to pin the waist in quadrants and the elastic in quadrants and attaching them together that way, so you know you're sewing the elastic on semi-equally all the way around.

I also made some sweats out of scraps of an old t-shirt.  Made from the same pattern.

I used the hem of the old shirt at the waist, cut notches for the drawstring to go through, and I already had my drawstring casing. Super fast, super easy, and Kewpie is delighted to have work out sweats just like mine!

I cut off the sleeves of an old cardigan, spread them out on my pattern and cut them to make ribbed leggings.

  I sewed an elastic at the top, and they were ready to wear!

It feels like these leggings were too wide, and therefore got a little baggy.  I might go back and sew it more narrow.

But then, it was an old cardigan, and perhaps there's not much stretch left in it.

I made the pattern a little wider to make these cotton elastic waist pants.


I'm learning that the same front and back works fine for tight-fitting pants, like leggings, but is less comfortable in looser pants, like these.

The problem is that we just aren't the same in the front as we are in the back!

Last of all, I took one of my old layering t-shirts and cut it up to make leggings to go under dresses.


I used the hem of the t-shirt so that I wouldn't have to hem the leggings 


(I'm so scared of hemming knits.  I can't help but stretch them.)


I sewed an elastic directly to the top of the leggings.

That's the end for now.

I'll be back with more!

Chandelier Hangings

We have a chandelier in a room that once was a dining room but now is a playroom.

It is a bit of a hazard.  A few of the taller people in the house hit their heads on it regularly.

Or they did until I got creative and started hanging colorful ornaments from it at Christmas.  When we cleaned up from Christmas, it was perfect to hang snowflakes on it, and then hearts in February, replaced by shamrocks in March and Easter eggs in April.



But Easter is over, and I'm wondering what to hang next.  There aren't any great themed holidays coming up soon.  What shall I hang on my chandelier?