Sunday, July 26, 2009

Plaid Caps on My Mind: Vogue 8528, a Patricia Underwood Design

I've got plaid on my mind. It must be some of the caps I've been seeing while I'm out and about in Chicago. Lots of guys wearing 'em. There's also one in the display window at Hats Plus (see top and bottom pictures). And whaddaya know....milliner Patricia Underwood has one in the latest Vogue Patterns catalog (Vogue 8528). So I want to make one...a cotton one for now until the heat disappears sometime in late September, and then I want a bunch of cute wool ones to keep my head warm from Octoberfest and on. I'm not sure if a bunch of fat quarters in a 1930s vintage fabric would work. I'd probably get a pattern piece or two, and I'd have to piece together the hat band. I already have some buckram for the visor and I actually already have a similar pattern in my pile. Somewhere.

Here are some variations on my scheme:
  • paisley print embellished with an iron-on felt letter and bedazzled with some rhinestones
  • brint orange denim print with complementary vintage striped ticking fabric for the hatband
  • white denim with a striped ribbon stitched down off-center on the main part
  • your suggestion here!
As for the going-away party/fabric swap last week for Erin McKean, it was a small affair. Just me, Erin, and Calico Sarah. I ditched some sad bad craft felt, and acquired a yard or two of teeny tiny plaid red/black plaid, two small cones of stretchy serger (sunshine yellow) thread and an old paint kit with fresh squishable tubes of paint, and lots of cookies from the Swedish Bakery. Cookies were naturally devoured nearly immediately, the new acquisitions? They're separated for now - thread, paints and fabric just don't get along, until they're forced to by me.
*By the way, read what Underwood has to say about wearing hats here. What do you think? Leave your comments here.
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3 comments:

Liz in Ypsilanti said...

I wore a broad-brimmed straw hat at Colonial Williamsburg and at the Gettysburg battlefield on my recent vacation - my fair skin was well protected on those sunny days, without any greasy skin feel. I will be more aggressive about wearing my hat when I'll be in the sun.

July 27, 2009 at 4:01 PM
Studio Viktorya said...

I have made two of the hats from this pattern - very cute. However, the final step of adding the grosgrain ribbon has me puzzled. Did you find the instructions confusing for Style A? Thanks! viktorya

November 9, 2009 at 1:57 PM
Mary Beth said...

Viktorya, are you talking about the grosgrain band inside? For starters, I'd use petersham not grosgrain ribbon for the band. Then I'd cut so that it fits the inside rim, with a little overlap. Then tack it down with an 'invisible' slip stitch: tiny stitches then running the needle and thread *behind the ribbon* until it's time for another tiny stitch until you cover the full circumference of the hat. Does this make sense?

November 9, 2009 at 2:05 PM

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