Something I’ve been doing lately is sewing. I used to have a good sewing machine, prior to our move to California. But, in our efforts to save precious packing space in the SUV, I sold it. And sold all my thread, fabric, cutting mat, rotary cutter, and all mask-making materials. You know those masks… everyone was busy making them during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. I know I certainly made my share of them! I quit counting after 300! Anyhow, for my birthday last year, my partner Mike bought me a brand-spanking-new sewing machine! It’s not super fancy, but it did come with a plethora of sewing feet and other small items.
I made a few small things while we were still out in California, but since we’ve settled back here in the North Country of NY State, I’ve started using it more and more. I’ve made a few zippered pouches, but I’m still perfecting them. I made myself a soft sleep mask, because the sun starts creeping in around 4:30 am. Yuck. I also made all the curtains for the apartment, except for the blackout curtains in the master bedroom. I didn’t feel like tackling those!
But something I have made a lot of, and I’m finding them to be quite a popular thing, is bucket hats! Reversible bucket hats! I found a really easy pattern on the internet, (LINK HERE) downloaded and printed out the templates for each size, and have made a couple dozen hats so far. I have also started tweaking the size of the brim, to make larger floppy-brimmed hats. So far, trial and error tells me I will need to get some light fusible material to use in the brim, so it’s not TOO floppy.
The video here will show you just a few of the hats I have made. If you notice, there are some unusual choices for the color combinations. Those were all requested in those designs. I showed them the fabric, they chose the two colors/designs they wanted. And the last hat in the stack was not completed yet. I still had to attach the inside and outsides together, and create the stitched lines around the brim.
Pattern found at: Apple Green Cottage
