Playing with Reversible Bucket Hats/Sun Hats
Summer is just around the corner. I love hats. I like making them. I like wearing them. I have a lot of straw cowboy style hats for the summer, working in the garden, out walking, or attending outdoor events. Hats make all the difference in outdoor activities remaining enjoyable. First, they keep your head cooler than no hat under the direct sun. And they protect the top of your head and your face from sunburn.
I decided to play with making sun hats, starting with designing. First I made a doughnut shape, the outer ring for the brim, keeping the inner circle for the top of the hat and cutting out rectangle sides (crown). Yes, pi is a real thing and it's your friend. The top of the crown and the inner circle matched perfectly. The key is to place the circle down on the machine to allow the feed dogs to do the work of easing the fabric. Despite the crown being straight, same length on top as bottom, the doughnut shaped fabric was tough to ease in and ended up with a crinkly brim. Which is actually really cute. For a little girl, especially.
Pulled out an old bucket hat pattern from my pattern stash. It was Simplicity, McCalls, or maybe Butterick. I always copy pattern pieces onto tissue paper so that I keep the original pristine and organized. Made that version. Cute but the brim did not work for what I wanted. I wanted a brim to shade my face and the only way to wear this and be able to actually see was to push the brim up. Cute. Not really functional as a sun hat.
Time to tweak. To keep the dimensions of the inner circle of the brim, I cut almost to the edge but not through then spread the wedges to give me a wider brim. Worked great!
Top pattern piece is the original. Middle pattern piece is cut to form wedges to spread outside farther out and taped in place. Bottom pattern piece is tissue placed over wedged piece and drawn to new specifications.
I did not use interfacing since this was a prototype to see if the new brim pattern piece was how I wanted it to be but it still works great. It's something that can be tossed in a bag, tote, or luggage and will retain its shape. It can be tossed in the washer then dryer. Very happy with it.
Oh, and the best part, they're completely reversible! You can choose an elegant side or a fun whimsical side. I've been wearing the batik side out. I really like it. The pink/yellow one is nice also and I would wear it when I don't care about needing a brim to block some sunshine from my face.
For a child's hat you could get away with two fat quarters. For an adult sized hat you will need a bit more, simply for placement of the pieces. Since I was experimenting and making prototypes I did a few pieces with whatever I had on hand. You could even create a patchwork look with smaller fabric scraps. You could do a leather one. Even one from oiled canvas for a rain hat. If you're into embroidery you could embroider the crown or the brim before sewing the pieces together. A giant fabric flower with a pin back would be cute as well. The child's version made me think of Alice in Wonderland for some reason and my fingers craved some wild embellishment but since it was destined to be a gift I resisted. Dun dun dun... for now.
Summer is just around the corner. I love hats. I like making them. I like wearing them. I have a lot of straw cowboy style hats for the summer, working in the garden, out walking, or attending outdoor events. Hats make all the difference in outdoor activities remaining enjoyable. First, they keep your head cooler than no hat under the direct sun. And they protect the top of your head and your face from sunburn.
I decided to play with making sun hats, starting with designing. First I made a doughnut shape, the outer ring for the brim, keeping the inner circle for the top of the hat and cutting out rectangle sides (crown). Yes, pi is a real thing and it's your friend. The top of the crown and the inner circle matched perfectly. The key is to place the circle down on the machine to allow the feed dogs to do the work of easing the fabric. Despite the crown being straight, same length on top as bottom, the doughnut shaped fabric was tough to ease in and ended up with a crinkly brim. Which is actually really cute. For a little girl, especially.
Pulled out an old bucket hat pattern from my pattern stash. It was Simplicity, McCalls, or maybe Butterick. I always copy pattern pieces onto tissue paper so that I keep the original pristine and organized. Made that version. Cute but the brim did not work for what I wanted. I wanted a brim to shade my face and the only way to wear this and be able to actually see was to push the brim up. Cute. Not really functional as a sun hat.
Time to tweak. To keep the dimensions of the inner circle of the brim, I cut almost to the edge but not through then spread the wedges to give me a wider brim. Worked great!
Top pattern piece is the original. Middle pattern piece is cut to form wedges to spread outside farther out and taped in place. Bottom pattern piece is tissue placed over wedged piece and drawn to new specifications.
I did not use interfacing since this was a prototype to see if the new brim pattern piece was how I wanted it to be but it still works great. It's something that can be tossed in a bag, tote, or luggage and will retain its shape. It can be tossed in the washer then dryer. Very happy with it.
Oh, and the best part, they're completely reversible! You can choose an elegant side or a fun whimsical side. I've been wearing the batik side out. I really like it. The pink/yellow one is nice also and I would wear it when I don't care about needing a brim to block some sunshine from my face.
For a child's hat you could get away with two fat quarters. For an adult sized hat you will need a bit more, simply for placement of the pieces. Since I was experimenting and making prototypes I did a few pieces with whatever I had on hand. You could even create a patchwork look with smaller fabric scraps. You could do a leather one. Even one from oiled canvas for a rain hat. If you're into embroidery you could embroider the crown or the brim before sewing the pieces together. A giant fabric flower with a pin back would be cute as well. The child's version made me think of Alice in Wonderland for some reason and my fingers craved some wild embellishment but since it was destined to be a gift I resisted. Dun dun dun... for now.
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