My Sew Vintage September hat!

I have a rather longer sewing queue because I am still trying to finish sewing 30 yards of fabric. But this month, I took a detour due to the @SewVintageSeptember challenge hosted by @ketrelmakes and @stitchodessy. So I decided to make a hat for Sew Vintage September! This McCals 8254 hat pattern from the 1960s, version D (polka dot hat with small front brim), is what I picked.

I had fun posing for these photos, trying to channel some of the angular poses I found of 1960s fashion on Pinterest.

In May I made my version D using red wool felt I got from Stonemountain Fabric. You can see it on my post about the Fibre Mood Suri Top, which I made from Marimekko fabric. I thought a 1960s hat would go well with the 1963 fabric design by Maija Isola, the famed Finnish designer of numerous classic Marimekko designs, including “Unikko” (poppy).

Wool felt fabric

I wanted to make this hat again, and there’s nothing like a deadline, right? Sew Vintage September was the perfect time to get going. I used 100 percent wool felt I got earlier this year: black wool felt from Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics (6 yards in stock at the time of this writing) and an off-white or “natural” felt from Prairie Woolens in Iowa.

However, the two felts did not have the same weight. You can see the black through the single layer of the off-white wool to the right of my thumb. The black wool was more dense and had more body than the off-white felt. The pattern calls for interfacing so to compensate for the softer “hand” of the off-white felt, I doubled the interfacing for those pieces, which gave them a little more body so they were more like the black pieces. The good thing about the softness of the natural felt was that I was able to use it for the covered button.

The pattern pieces

This hat has three pattern pieces (front, side, and back) for the crown of the hat (fashion fabric) and three pattern pieces for the lining. I wondered why there were separate lining pieces because I’ve made a six-section cap that used the same pattern piece for the outside fabric and the lining. But then I realized that the lining pieces are the same as the outside fabric, but reversed because you place the lining (wrong sides together) inside the hat. It would be a little confusing trying to explain that in a diagram or instructions.

If you have woven fabric, you cut the fashion fabric on the bias. I was using felt, so I didn’t need to cut it on the bias.

The pattern pieces have numbered notches so you can be sure to attach the correct pieces together: front to side, side to the back, and so forth. I marked the stitch line on the interfacing and then trimmed down the seam allowance with pinking scissors. You can see the pinked scraps in the photo below.

I used a medium-weight nonwoven interfacing and, following the instructions, pinned it to the felt, and then sewed the pieces. I decided against fusible interfacing because if it doesn’t fuse well, then it would not look good. When I made my red felt hat, one piece didn’t fuse so well so I had to recut the piece and fuse again.

The felt was about 3 mm thick so I used these metal clips to hold the hat pieces together. I got them as swag from a legal conference, back when I used to work for a legal magazine.

Inside the hat

I decided to make this had around mid-September so I had a bit of a late start for Sew Vintage September. Plus I didn’t want to buy any fabric. I’m still participating in the #Whole30FabricChallenge hosted by Pink Mimosa by Jacinta on Instagram. I still had plenty of this fuschia poly satin, which I got from Britex Fabrics, so I decided to use it for the lining. I used it for my red wool hat. No one will see the lining so it doesn’t need to match. Plus I like the bright pop of colr.

To finish the inside, you cut 1-inch Petersham ribbon to match the length of the pattern piece, overlap the edges and slip stitch the folded edge over the raw edge of the ribbon. Then you hand stitch it to the inside, covering the raw edge of the hat. The circumference of the ribbon is slightly smaller than the inside of the hat, which helps keep the ribbon on the inside.

Note on the brim

After sewing the lining, you’re supposed to attach the brim. I realized I forgot the note which two pieces were the front! Oops. I had to unpick the basting stitches to see which pieces were the front. Be sure to mark the two front pieces before you insert your lining.

Also, the brim pattern piece for the size large hat is incorrectly labeled “cut 1.” You need to cut two. Here’s a view of the brim.

The covered button

The six sections didn’t perfectly align in the center, which is why you put a covered button on top or a little stem there. I have a little gap in the center. I wasn’t as precise as I could have been in sewing. But I was close! I knew I was going to cover it with a button so I didn’t go back and redo the stitching.

I had a vintage covered button kit and this was the perfect time to use it, right? The other covered button sets among my supplies were a little too small. This was perfect. I picked the white because it could squeeze into the covered button.

Check out this 1952 Women’s Day ad for Prims covered buttons and buckles from the File Photo Digital Archive. The text at the top reads: “There’s Nothing like COVERED BUTTONS & BUCKLES to make the style!”

Here are more photos where you can see the button. The crown of the hat is so high, that you can’t see it in some of the other photos.

This is my selfie photo of the top of the hat. (Most of the photos were taken with my phone on a tripod.)

1960s fashion

I love 1960s fashion. I have a 1960s dress pattern, but I didn’t have time to make it for Sew Vintage September. So I just went with this RTW sweater I got at Banana Republic a few years ago. I got it sometime before 2018. That’s the year I stopped buying ready to wear and began participating in the 2018 RTW fast. 😉

As for 1960s, makeup, I loaded on the eyeliner and mascara. I didn’t try the cat eye look because I just had a soft pencil liner, not one of those liners with a brush. Also, I don’t have a lot of patience with make up.

I’ve been pinning a lot of 1960s fashion on the Vintage Fashion & Design board on my Pinterest account (@csews). I love the bright colors and geometric designs.

More hat views for Sew Vintage September

Here are a few more shots of my project.

Thanks for reading! And thank you, Kerry of @kestrelmakes and Marie of @stitchodessy for hosting this fun challenge! Now I have another hat for my collection.