Second Sunday Hat, Trimmed

Back of Hat with ribbon.

Claire in my hat.

This time I crocheted the hat using a tweedy worsted weight yarn, and trimmed it with some toile ribbon. I just shaped the ribbon and pinned it to the hat. It was a bit difficult to get it to lie flat since the hat was floppy, so I had to have someone stand there with the hat on their head. I stapled a bit of ribbon in a loop for the two ends to go through. I have made a lavender colored hat for Claire, and Anna is making a beige hat for herself. I have found that after making three hats, all of worsted weight, that the different yarns were slightly different sizes anyway, so when making the hat add rows to the crown, sides and brim if you need to, to get it just the size you want.

Here is the pattern which I got from  Beverly Casey at www.geocities.com/Wellesley/7934/flpyhat.html.

Dont join your rounds, you just go round and round. Use a small saftey pin to make the beginning of a row to help you keep track of where to start and end the next row.

My favorite Recycled Skirt

This is my favorite recycled skirt. I love it because it is so light and airy, plus it is roomy enough for my long stride. I got it at the thrift store for a few dollars and altered it to my tastes. First I got rid of the draw-string waist, which I hate because the knot or bow shows beneath your shirts, and I replaced it by running elastic through the draw opening instead. Then I added a side-seam pocket to one side to hold my reading glasses. I searched on the web for "How to sew a side-seam pocket", and just followed the directions. I like this skirt so much that I think I will make a pattern from it and make myself another one!

A Skirt from two Pants

This is what the skirt will look like when it is done. I added some white lace all across the bottom after this picture was taken, and it looks real cute.

I am going to take these two pairs of pants that no longer fit my daughter, and make them into a long skirt for her. I chose these two because they are of similar weight and the colors match. You can use two pairs of blue jeans that are too short or too tight in the waist, if as a skirt the waist can slide up a bit and fit just fine.

I will use all of one pants and part of the other. I will use the entire pair of the solid colored pants for the skirt top and sides, and the striped pants will provide a panel to fill in the front and back of the skirt. (If you are making a shorter skirt you would only need one pair of pants and you would cut off it’s legs a foot or so to fill in the panel.) The top part of the second pair of pants that will be left over can also be used to make another skirt by sewing a length of cloth in place of the legs. 

Lay your pant leg out flat inside out so you can see the inside seam (the inseam). It is a waste of time to use a seam ripper to rip this seam, so we are just going to cut the seam right off! Start at the bottom of one leg. Cut up the inseam, cutting off the seam all the way up across the crotch and back down the other pant leg. This opens up the pants. If you put them on now they look like a skirt with a triangular piece missing from the front and back. We will us the lower part of the pant legs of the other ( striped ) pair of pants to fill in this triangle. The cat is not really necessary for the work, although she thinks she is helpful!

What the inseam looks like as you are cutting it off.