Happy Broad Brim Hat

It's Happy Home Blog Tour Time!  Happy Home is the new book Jennifer Paganelli, of Sisboom.   It was co-authored by Dolin O-Shea.  This is a fun book with a lot of easy to medium patterns, including cute pillows and decorative elements like a party banner, pretty aprons, stockings, and bedding items like a quilt, bed skirt, and even a lovely canopy!  My girls are in love with the last one, so we may have to try it out soon!  There are also patterns for accessories like pretty fabric-covered boxes, totes, bags, and a lovely hat, called The Broad Brim.  

Here's my version of The Broad Brim:

 That's me and yes that is as good a pic of me as you are going to get with that wee camera.  I wish I had a nicer one!

Here is the finished hat.  This is all made from Jennifer's Crazy Love line of fabric for Free Spirit.  I love this line! Such pretty patterns and vibrant colors. 

I used an embroidery stitch to add a little detail.

Now, for a review of the pattern. I felt this was a pretty easy pattern to follow but I had a hard time picturing how to do things.  I am a visual learner and there are not a lot of graphics. That is my own problem, and not a ding on the pattern.  I read each direction step several times before sewing and really only had to rip out seams once.  I chose to leave off the casing for the shoe lace because I have a big head and I knew I would not need to tighten this hat.  It fits a head 21.5-24 inches in circumference and my head is 24 inches!  I did take pics of a few hints for people to try when they do this pattern.

Tip #1: cutting out a perfect circle. The top of the hat must be a perfect circle, so here is a tip.  Make your pattern piece by folding a piece of tracing paper in fourths and cutting out a piece of pie. When you open it, it will be a perfect circle.  

 Now, do the same thing for the fabric.  Pin the pattern piece and the fold and fold again, like this picture below:

 Cut it out.

 Open it up and you have a perfect circle!

Tip #2:  Trim the excess layers of interfacing before you sew parts together.

Tip #3: Use a lot of pins!!!

 Tip #4: Every time you sew something wrong side out, turn it right side out and check how it looks before you move on. 

 Tip #5: When it comes time to sew on the crown, you might need to unpin and make a size adjustment so it will fit well.  (seen below, I had to take it in a half inch)

Tip #6: Make sure your hat looks good on the outside

 and the inside!

And then enjoy!!