Sew Weekly Challenge Week 25 - Vacation wear, and a strangely familiar hat

 

The Facts
 

Fabric:  Navy broadcloth from stash, leftover fabric from my Family challenge maxi dress.
Patterns: Vogue 7600 view A.
Year: Contemporary.
Notions: Fusible interfacing, thread.
Time to complete: 4 hours (I had trouble getting my head size right).
First worn: 14th June 2012
Wear again? Probably on holiday, but I want to have another go at getting sizing right for ‘best’.

Total Cost: $0 (£0)

 

The challenge: “On Holiday: Vacation wear”.

 

 

So, you might well be thinking, looking at these photos…..I’m sure I’ve seen that dress somewhere before.

Well, yes, you have…..but I made a new hat to go with it for my vacation!

And I have to say, it took me totally by surprise, but this hat is the most difficult thing I’ve sewn all year.

 

 

Actually, that’s a slight lie. The sewing of it wasn’t difficult…..it was getting the sizing right. And no matter what, I couldn’t get the inner lining to sit flat. It was determined to go all rumpley inside.

I had a few false starts, including making the crown too big:

 

 

And if I’d had more time, I possibly would have perfected the Hat of Perpetual Frustration….I think next time I make it I need to decrease the size of the crown a bit and lessen the acuteness of the dart slopes, if that makes any sense to anyone but me.

 

 

But unfortunately, I’m not here again this week….I’m away on vacation (oh my dedication to Mena’s challenges, she picks ‘Vacation’ as a theme and I dutifully go on one ;)). I’ve written this post (and made the hat) before we set off and am hoping by the magic of technology to take pics in interesting places to slot in and still get it submitted by the challenge deadline.

I did toy with the idea of putting a ribbon band around the bottom of the crown, sitting on the brim to take in (and cover up) some of the excess hat flabbiness….

 

 

But nah. All I had suitable in my stash was some very shiny bright royal blue ribbon….it didn’t look right. Perhaps when I get home, I might try making a similar width bias tape out of the navy broadcloth and seeing what that looks like. But until then, you’ll just have to look on at my crown of unusual flabbitude….at least it will keep my scalp from sunburn and my hair colour from (extra) fading whilst away.

But anyway, if the posting of pics we’ve taken whilst on hols (translation for Americans: on vacation) go according to plan, yes, this is Hollywood……and if my stalkerish plans work out, here are some friends I bumped into*:

 

*I didn’t really meet them, we went to the Hollywood Wax Museum (the kids had a superb time posing with the stars, the grown-ups had a superb time laughing at the lack of likenesses of some of the exhibits).

Next week – Summer 2012 trends…..the project I half made at home before coming away on vacation (the bottom half to be precise) and half to be done whilst on the road trip (check out my Absobloominglutely tumblr for proof of in-car sewing and interesting places we visit along the way including Death Valley & near Area 51).