Jen's Chapeaux - Michael Miller Disco Dot Hat

JEN'S CHAPEAUX

New Hat Venture

I have been inspired to try my hand at hat making again from a lovely friend and great supporter of my bags (my best customer!) who was recently diagnosed with ALL - acute lymphocytic/lymphoblastic leukemia. Through chemo she has lost her beautiful blonde locks and is searching for cute hats to brighten her spirits. She has found that the chemo caps that are so popular are rather slippery and do not stay put very well.

Digging through my pile of patterns I found a couple of cute hats that I thought she would like. She picked out the McCall's 5119 that features a fun bucket style.

Jen is a "pink" kind of girl, so looking through my fabric stash I decided the Michael Miller's Disco Dot would be perfect. The challenge was getting the large dots to line up nicely in the design.

Needless to say, as the hat began to take form, I was overcome with a sense of purpose - to offer cute hats to women that have similar needs to Jen. 

With my oldest son's help (he has a graphic design degree), we came up with a hat label and JEN'S CHAPEAUX was born.

I was able to hand deliver Jen's hat to her, she tried it on at once and it fit perfectly. Since she measured a small size I wasn't sure of the fit at all. And she loves it, yeah!

This fabric is so vibrant. It has been out for a few years but I still love it. The color combinations are great - so cheery.

I have used it for one of my most popular tote bags - always a attention getter at craft fairs.

So now onto other hats, probably another using this fabric. But I have quite a stash and who knows what my come next.

ZOO ANIMAL Zippered Pouch...I Thought This Would Be Easy

Well, being the pack rat that I am and never throwing away anything deemed useful, I have lots of fabric remnants from my bag making venture. Zippered pouches and wristlets are a great way to use up some of these scraps.

I have lots of purse pattern and idea books, but of course I had to get another one from the library - Sew What! BAGS by Lexie Barnes. Lexie has loads of cute easy-to-follow ideas and I thought I would try my hand a the zippered pouch design.

I have made a few other zippered pouches and haven't been really happy with the results. I'm always up for another way of approaching something. The design shouldn't have any handsewing involved (quicker to make), have good details and appeal to many.

I recently bought the cutest print by Michael Miller - Zoology - has loads of giraffes, hippos, trees, frogs, etc. on a deep chocolate brown background. I started with this fabric.

Well...the first one was a disaster!! Iron-on peltex was not the interfacing to use, the fabric doesn't stay nice, looks all wrinkled. And the zipper didn't lay flat the way I wanted.

The zipper should fit the opening and not be longer, althought lots of patterns say it can be longer. But I find that the extra zipper tape makes for curved lumpy corners along the top. A flat top on the pouch is much more appealing (and looks like you know what you are doing!).

So I started to take that pouch apart, I had thoughts of reusing the zipper, but then realized that wasn't going to work out.

Starting fresh - new fabric, new zipper, new polka dot band for the front, and regular sew-in peltex I attempted this EASY design once again.

Yea, it finally came out like I had wanted - sturdy, smooth, great handy size (a checkbook fits) and really cute (I think so). This will be the style that I plan to used from now on - quick (although I'm not too quick yet!), easy, nice lines and a great way to use up expensive cotton remnants.

It did take me a while to figure out how to attached the strap handle to the hook so it looked decent and professional.

One detail that I would have added and will in future pouches, is top stitching along the zippered edge - looks nice and helps to keep the lining out
the way.

I used Michael Miller's Brown Kitschy Dot for the lining. In this simple pouch there is no pocket, since it is rather small and not really necessary.

The pouch can be considered a wristlet too because of the detachable strap.

Now to get it listed in my Etsy shop!