All American Hero Hat

Scroll towards bottom for pattern. But read anything you want before :)

Yes, I realize it's been a very long while since I've posted anything crafty. A very long while... But here in the past few weeks, I've decided that instead of wishing and blogging about projects I want to do, I'm just gonna do 'em. And the results have been rather pleasing.

Since the beginning of Summer, I've made...

A baby gift for a college friend (not posting the pic because she still doesn't have it yet. Nicki, that's what you get for moving to Korea)

A duffel bag for Josiah to take to the beach.  I started to be brave and sneak in Josiah's room while he slept to snatch said duffel bag for a picture, but I opened the door and heard him stir, so I chickened out and ran like someone was chasing me.  So no pic.

A drool mat. That is not used anymore because of baby mobility.  I didn't even get a picture before I put it up, but I made it using a vinyl tablecloth, an egg crate mattress pad, a fleece throw and blanket binding.  All stuff I could get from our local Fred's or I already had.

A dress for one niece, a shirt for her sister, and matching shorts for my Stink Bug

An umbrella cover, because the existing one didn't have much SPF to it.

A Hello Kitty applique pillowcase shirt and Boutique Jeans for my little cousin.

A crocheted football hat for Stink Bug.  It's just like all the ones that you see on Pinterest, Etsy, and elsewhere.

The "All American Hero Hat" for Stink Bug's Halloween costume (Pattern to come later, like in just a few more lines)

A crocheted skinny chevron scarf (Pattern to also come later, like in another post)

Another crocheted chevron scarf in my favorite cream, burgundy and navy color combo. 

And in the works are...

The coat that I first mentioned here about 2 years ago.  This thing is so close I can taste it.  I just have to finish the hem on the lining and reposition a button.

A bag to match the coat.  That is actually done now.  Amazing what two weeks between writing a draft and publishing a post can do.  Too bad I can't make shoes too.

 

Another pile of ID wallets to put in the shop. 4 of 9 are done now.

A "Bowling Bag" inspired by the Vera Bradley bags that everyone seems to be toting nowadays.

And I think I'm maybe gonna make some baby cords out of some of my old pants and some rice warmers that hopefully Stink Bug will hold on to when we go to Dollywood at the end of November. He sure does like his rice sock, but I don't want to carry my grungy old mismatched sock out in public. And maybe a microfleece animal/lovey of some sort. I am NOT willing to cut up my housecoat for the baby, so I've got to find some cheap fabric.  And maybe a baby hoodie sweatshirt.  I say maybe because Josiah really doesn't need it, but it's kind of fun to just see if you can do it :)

So I said that the "All American Hero Hat" pattern was coming later. It's later. I wanted to get it out there in time for Halloween so if you wanted to make one for your little Hero, you can. As you may already know, my brother's name is Sam. When Josiah was born, that made him Uncle Sam. Megan, Sam's girlfriend, found a Halloween costume for a couple that was Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty. And they decided that Josiah needed to be Captain America. She even got him a Captain America T-shirt. So I set to work on the hat. I call it the "All American Hero Hat" because it's not exactly Captain America, and I don't want to infringe upon any copyrights or licensing or such. If you make this hat, I do ask that you don't sell anything you make from the pattern. I usually don't care, but I'm still kind of funny about the licensing stuff. Please make as many as you want for personal use or as gifts, just please don't sell them. Thanks! I didn't pay much attention to guage since I wasn't going to go commercial with this pattern. And this pattern involves switching yarn colors. I didn't include instructions for that, but I'm sure you can find some better tutorials than I could write on the matter.

Size: Made to fit my will-be 10 month old who has a large head
Yarn Used: Lily Sugar 'N' Cream, 1 ball each Red, White and Blue
Hook Used: Size I, but I usually use a hook 2 sizes larger to obtain guage on commercial patterns
This is an American termed pattern with standard abbreviations, bpdc = back post double crochet, fpdc = front post double crochet
Hat Base, starting with blue yarn
Round 1: SC 6 in a Magic Ring. Sl st to join to top of first sc. If you don't know how to do a Magic Ring, I made a video here, but please feel free to find something better elsewhere on the net.
Round 2: ch 1, 2 sc in each sc around. Join to top of first sc with sl st (12 sts)
Round 3: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 4: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 2 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 2 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 5: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 3 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 3 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 6: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 4 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 4 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 7: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 5 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 5 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 8: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 6 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 6 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 9: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 7 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 7 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 10: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 8 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 8 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 11: ch 1, 2 sc in same sc where joined, 1 sc in next 9 sc, *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 9 sc* 5 times. Join to top of first sc with sl st
Round 12-24: ch 1, sc in same where joined, sc in each sc around. Join to top of first sc with sl st. Finish off at end of Round 24.
Round 25: Join white yarn. Ch 2, dc in same sc where joined, dc in next 2 sc. Join red yarn, dc in next 3 sc. *Switch to white yarn, dc in next 3 sc, switch to red yarn, dc in next 3 sc* 11 times (or around depending on whether or not you like to count). Join with sl st to first white dc.
Round 26-27: With white yarn, ch 2, bpdc around same dc where joined and around next 2 dc. Switch to red yarn, fpdc around next 3 dc. *Switch to white yarn, bpdc around next 3 dc. Switch to red yarn, fpdc around next 3 dc* 11 times. Finish off at the end of Round 27. (White yarn should be around white yarn, red yarn around red yarn.)

Wings
Make 2 with white yarn Row 1: ch 10, turn
Row 2: sc in 2nd ch from hook and in next 8 sc, do not ch when turning(9 sts)
Row 3: 5 dc in next sc, skip 1 sc, sl st in next sc, skip 1 sc, 4 dc in next sc, sc in next 4 sc. Finish off.

"Target" applique
Rounds 1-5: Follow instructions for Rounds 1-5 of Hat Base with red yarn
Round 6: Switch to white yarn, sl st in each sc around, finish off.

Star applique
Round 1: sc 5 in magic ring, join with sl st to top of first sc, do not ch
Round 2: *(sc, dc, sc) all in next sc, sl st in next sc* 5 times. Finish off.

Stitch star applique to center of target applique. Stitch target applique to center front of hat (I just guessed at this). Stitch wings to sides of hat using just the first 5 dc cluster. Position them slightly closer to the front than to the back. One will be "wrong side out" but just don't look too close and no one will really notice :) Weave in ends, you may want to use some fabric glue to tack down the yarn ends on the wings since there's no really good place for them to go.

And there you have it! It's not Captain America to a T, but I bet anyone who sees it will recognize it as such. Enjoy! And thanks for stopping by!

One of Those Weekends...

I know that I promised a caution sign for negative posts.  There's not one here, but I'm not apologizing.  It's not all going to be negative.  In fact, my plan is to make it funny.

This Saturday did not turn out at all like I had planned.  I woke up in a foul mood.  Thus, I was in a foul mood all day.  I couldn't get my mind wrapped around what project I wanted to tackle.  I should have known not to tackle anything too hard. 

The first plan was to do my second pin-up style knock off.  But the shirt that I was going to refashion no longer fit (darn the local Mexican restaurant).  So I decided to make the dress I wanted with the beautiful navy blue ponte knit that I bought for way too much.  I needed to do this.  After all, I finally had my red wedges to match that I had been in search of.  But as I was winding my bobbin, my thread ran out.  I had to go to two different stores to find some navy thread. 

All was made better for a while when I got home and X-Men Origins was on.  Even as a mutant, Hugh Jackman is one fine man. 

Then I commenced to making the dress.  Nothing went as planned.  I think the dress was mutating on me.  I finally decided that it wasn't going to turn out how I had imagined.  I changed my game plan and started redesigning. 

Until I accidentally cut the straps off. 

I think I threw it across the room.  I'm not sure.  I was in that mode where I just threw things.  I know I threw the mayonnaise jar across the kitchen.  Thankfully those are no longer made of glass. 

But all hope is not lost!  I still think I can salvage a decent dress from what I had.  I was just so frustrated that I couldn't think of anything besides my "failure."  I'm so self concious aboug failing.  It has always seemed like the world was just waiting on me to fail.  I've always felt like there were very few people who liked me.  I'm not really sure if that's the truth, or if it's just a lie that Satan planted in my little middle schooler brain 15 years ago that somehow flourishes.  Even if it is true, I KNOW there are some really great people who do love me.  Even and especially when I do "fail."  And to all of those people who fall into that category, thank you.  You know who you are :) 

But the only ones who never fail are those who never try anything new.  I can tell myself that now. 

So now the hunt is on for a shirt to refashion.  And my seam ripper is going to get a lot of love.

But this weekend, I'm going to Dollywood again with Hubs, my Mama and Daddy, and Sam and Megan, my brother and his girlfriend.  So unless the urge hits me after work one day.  There ain't nothing in that sewing room getting much love this week! 

Knock it Off!

I love knocking stuff off.  I'm sure there's something wrong with that.  But I love it.  I always have.  I have boxes of beads and shells from making hemp jewelry when I was in middle school and early high school.  I didn't want to pay $10 (which was a lot to a 12 year old back then) for a necklace I could make for about $3.  Plus I got the satisfaction of knowing that I made it.  I think I've always been very analytical.  I can look at stuff and figure out what went into making it.  I've always been good at spatial things, like geometry.  I think that was one of my favorite classes in high school and I did really well in physics in college.  I just like figuring stuff out.  And it's awesome when all of that combines into something more useful than what time two trains will collide. 

All that being said.  I found this dress at Belk a few weeks ago.

Source: belk.com via Evan on Pinterest



(Yes, I succumbed to Pinterest, I feel like a sell out)

But I did find this dress in real life at Belk.  There were just a few problems.  1) It was in the junior's department.  Some things I can get away with in the junior's dept. like T-shirts.  Not dresses.  2) Coming from the junior's dept. it was very short and see through.  People complain about what hoochie mama's today's teenagers are becoming.  Part of the problem is that mamas are buying the hoochie mama clothes for their teenagers.  OK, getting off the soap box now.  3) The print is all wrong for me.  Petite girls should wear petite prints.  Not giant butterflies gracing their naughty bits. 

So I studied the dress in the store while the Clinique lady wondered what I was doing to the poor hanging half mannequin thing and remembered it for the day I found the perfect fabric.  Little did I know it wouldn't be long before I found it. 

I found this wonderful cotton knit at Hancock for $3 a yard!  $3!  And I used less than 2 yards.  So that's a new dress for less than $6.  It kind of has an Indian feel to the print.  But it's in dominantly berry color.  I love berry color.  And I got some practice matching stripes.  I'm wearing a long sleeve T-shirt under it because it was cold that day and I couldn't wait to wear my  new dress, but the little white panel in front is sewn in so I won't have to wear a cami underneath in the summer.  And the fabric is such better quality than what's in the stores. 

I'm in love.

So my next knock off project is in the works.  Because I think it's senseless to pay $200 on sale for a bag just because it says Michael Kors.  Did he sign it?  Sew it together himself?  Guaratee it free of defects in workmanship?  Write you a personal thank you note for shopping his brand?  Even if he did, there's no sense in spending that kind of money for a bag that will go out of style next season.  Just sayin'. 

You Know That Dress I've Been Talking About...

That plaid peasant dress that I first told you about in July...that dress that I've been dreaming about since before that...that dress that I've been putting off FOREVER...yeah, well, I finally finished it!

Well, I say I finished it.  It still needs a little work because it's floofier that I wanted it to be.  I pulled a lot of fabric around the back to make it look the way I wanted it to.  And I'm going to make a belt that matches a little better (and doesn't have the buckle turned around to the back so it matches).  The colors also came out a little wonky on this picture.  It's really khaki, navy and wine colored.   

I'll have better pictures later.  This one was taken while standing on the edge of the bathtub, because I don't have a full length mirror, at about 4:30 AM because I was crazy enough to stay up late to finish it.  I was just so excited to show y'all something that I can check off my to-do list!

It's petite friendly (of course it is, it's tailored to me!).  But I think the best part about this dress it that I fully lined it.  Sleeves and all.  The broadcloth that I bought for the lining is so soft and it makes it so warm!  I can't wait to wear it to the mountains with some leggings and my western-ish boots!

Linking up here!