Ok, sorry if anyone has been waiting to see this method, I finally got myself together and here it is! It really went together even more swimmingly than I expected. I will always make this hat like this in the future. And I will preach the good news to all...
First, put together your two caps just like in the book. Then sew together the two sides of each brim, but don't sew the two brims together.
Instead, sew each brim to it's respective cap so that you end up with two separate hats like this. Use a 1/2 inch seam allowance still, finger press it down toward the brim, then topstitch the seam to the brim. You can see the topstitch well on my orange side.
Now turn one side wrong side out and fit it on top of the other side. Basically, just put them right sides together. Make sure you line up those side seams and notches on the outer brims.
Here is what the other side looks like.
Sew around the brim with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, but leave a three inch space for turning. When you leave a turning space in anything, it helps to sew off the edges like pictured here. This will make your excess tuck in very nicely once it's turned right side out. After you sew around, trim the seam allowance down to about 1/8 inch, except in this area.
Turn the whole thing through the opening. Finger press all the way around the edge of the brim so that the edge is turned all the way out and it's nice and flat. Use an iron to get your opening part tucked in and shaped right.
Top stitch the brim starting very close to the edge. This way, you don't even have to hand stitch your opening. (yay!) Keep topstitching every 1/4 inch or so up the brim. If you skip this part, the two layers will be too independent of each other. Plus it looks pretty.
Fully reversible, fully machine stitched. It's a little more wrinkly from the turning, but that will work itself out.
I know a lot of you have made yours already, which is awesome! Isn't it great to look on the side bar over there and see them popping up every few days? Sewing along is even more fun than I thought. But if you haven't even started yet, don't worry. You have all the way until the end of the month before I'll do the final show-off post and everyone can link up their hats. In the meantime, maybe you can even whip up a few more this way. Hope it was helpful!
Such a smart way to do it! I'll have to remember that next time.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you posted this! I still have to finish my second hat, and I am pretty psyched that there will now be no handstitching involved. Yay!
ReplyDeleteOooooo you are a smarty pants! Great idea!
ReplyDeleteI actually don't mind the hand stitching, but this looks a lot faster! I'll have to give this a try on my next go around with this pattern.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I didn't really do it this way, but I wish I did. Totally brill.... which sounds more fun than brilliant.
ReplyDeleteThanks for pioneering this no handstitching method and sharing. I'm giving this a go on my next two hats. :)
ReplyDeletethat is a darling hat! so cute, I need to make some now! fellow reashionista here! just connecting with my peeps
ReplyDeletehttp://www.justinandashleyrefresh.com/2011/08/mudroom.html
so awesome! :>
ReplyDeleteI love it!! Thanks for the clever tip! I'm gonna make another one! ;-)
ReplyDeleteGreat tip! I need to get mine done, I am falling behind!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this method! I finished my first hat yesterday and should finish up the second today. I still hand stitched the little turning gap shut after topstitching even though the raw edges didn't show because I'm just like that, but this was so much more appealing than hand stitching the whole inside. :)
ReplyDeleteHi! Just found your blog, I can't wait to join your sew along! I made this hat a few months ago, but am ready to get started with the backpack in September. The book is so sweet and this sew along will inspire me to actually get to work. Thanks! I blogged about the hat and some other Oliver +S patterns,
ReplyDeletewww.true-prue-lovely.blogspot.com
Brilliant!! I've got one done and one waiting to be sewn....guess what I'll be doing with the second one??
ReplyDeleteThe hat pattern kind of threw me at first because THIS is how I would expect to see a hat made. Thanks for reassuring me that it will work if I do it this way after all!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great pattern deviation! My sewing time is very limited and I love when I can accomplish something in a shorter time period. I just completed my 1st bucket hat and followed your method. The bucket hat came together very easily. Thanks!!! I'm sooo in with your sew-along!
ReplyDeleteFabulous method!
ReplyDeleteFantastic. I am making my 1st bucket hat this week, and I was pondering doing it this way (I recently made the awesome Buttercup Bag which also goes together this way) and I am so glad to see you already tried it, and it worked!
ReplyDeleteWonderful. Sorry to have missed the big Sew-Along, but I'm going to hand around and watch for more activities! Time for Spring and Bucket hats for all 3 kiddos :D
A bit late to the party but just wanted to say thanks for this. I'd wondered if this would work but was too chicken to risk it with my precious fabric. Yay you for being braver than me!
ReplyDeletewhen i first flipped through the book i saw this pattern and said no to it bc of the hand stitching... thanks for showing how easy it can really be!
ReplyDeleteI didn't hand stitch my version (using the original pattern), but it definitely didn't look as clean as doing it your way! Thanks! Now I have to make a few more.... :)
ReplyDeleteI totally learned something new from this! To sew off the edges... really, how did I never know that!? Thank you! You will probably be seeing a hat from me using your techniques in the near future!
ReplyDeleteI struggled with the hand stitching on this one, can't wait to try this method next time I make one of these!
ReplyDeleteI made my first ever hat not long ago using the Oliver & S pattern, then learnt about your tutorial. I've just finished hat number 2 using your method and it was soooo easy and sooooo much quicker! Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this. I, too, will never use the other way again. Who wants to handstitch an entire brim? Just blogged my entirely-machine-stitched hat for KCWC.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I will try this, I have made 3 with hand stitch method but this looks like it would be quicker and easier.
ReplyDeleteomg - too clever!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI am really confused at the sizing of this pattern. I am an experienced seamstress, and the finished size ended up way smaller than what the pattern says. I made a large for my 4 year old ( she has a 20" head) thinking it would be big on her and she would get more use out of it. It's way too small for her. It barely fits my 2 year old and my kids don't have big heads. The finished size of the large came out to be 18 1/2 inches. Unless I did something wrong, this pattern is off. I am going to retry it with my new enlarged pattern I drafted with your wider brim idea and see how it is. Has anyone said it runs small? I just can't believe it came out as small as it did.
ReplyDeleteI just read through the original pattern and thought that there must be an easier way. Thanks for sharing this. I never would have figured it out on my own.
ReplyDelete