Gone to print

Yay! We're DAYS away from having this baby on the road! If you'd like to pre-order a Fedora pattern we'll give you free shipping if you're in Australia (or knock $2 off the cost of international shipping). This offer is only for the next few days - until we get the patterns back from the printer and packaged. I hope to have them in the post by Friday. Get in early!

Edited to add - If you'd like to order, just email Leah at sales@nicolemdesign.com.au .

The pattern is for advanced sewists - people who really know their way around a sewing machine and have a bit of dressmaking, hat-making or bag-making experience. It's a step up from your average hat pattern because it combines a few millinery techniques (steaming and shaping). Make this hat a few times and you'll find your hat-making (and sewing) skills will have jumped up a notch or two! As always, my instructions don't just tell you what to do, they tell you HOW to do it!

I didn't have any new images of the Fedora - so instead of repeating the same-old, I decided to photograph the hat I wore today. Problem was, daylight had faded by the time I had a chance to get the camera out and.... well.. have you ever tried to photograph yourself wearing a hat..?
Hmmm.... now you know what my world looks like when I'm not wearing glasses or contacts!

The old "lift the camera over your head and hope for the best" trick.... resulted in a lot of wasted shots. The ones that worked were dark and in need of Photoshopping. I quite liked the way that upping the levels in Photoshop turned my skin yellow (!?) ...and I hated the way it didn't disguise toddler mess in the mirror reflection!

But I really liked the way this grainy spiral rose came out... kind of like the stone-carved celtic spirals that inspired it.

I made this hat in 2003 - my first Winter after returning from living in Ireland. I think I was still heavily influenced by my time there. Since then, this hat has seen a bit of rough treatment (squashed into bags etc) and bears a few scars. I'm glad I finally recorded its existence before it's completely wrecked.

For some reason in the coldest weather we've had for a long time, I cut my hair super-short on the weekend. I think I'll be wearing my hat a lot over the next few months!