Hat Fail

For all I love sewing hats, they can sometimes be frustrating projects. Often it's an issue of sewing an awkward seam or getting the sizing correct (I have a big head), but my latest hat was an annoyance trifecta: awkward, mis-sized, with a tricky fabric to boot. I haven't entirely given up on laminated cotton, but I'm not particularly happy with my first trial run.

The hat in question is the Raindrop Hat from the book Sewn Hats. While it's a fine pattern, part of my problem with the finished hat was that I decided to get "smart" and modify the pattern to fit my large head. While this mostly turned out okay, the finished hat is too tall in the crown. Bugger.

The challenge of fixing the hat (and honestly sewing the hat) comes down to the properties of laminated cotton. Any holes you make in the fabric stay, meaning limited to no pinning and avoiding ripping out seams whenever possible. Additionally, you have to be careful with seams, as they can actually weaken the fabric and make it more likely to tear. And did I mention that the sewing machine feet like to stick to the laminated cotton?

So yeah, this was a bit of a pain to sew and I need to be a little strategic in how I fix the hat so I don't weaken the fabric. Until that happens, this little hat will be set aside while I can work on happier projects.