The New Flat Cap Pattern and a Magazine Project

Well, I finally stopped talking about it and got around to making a hat for the blokes (which also looks fab on girls). 

I've made it a digital download, so you can print it out immediately and start sewing up a flat-cap storm in time for Christmas.  You can get it HERE.

The pattern is a multi-size number, which fits sizes - Small - 56cm (22’’), Medium - 58cm (23’’), Large - 60cm (23’’) and Extra-Large - 62cm (24’’).

NOTE: I'd recommend printing out the instructions 2-up or booklet form, and check your printer settings before printing out the pattern, to make sure that it's printing ACTUAL SIZE, not fit-to-page.

 

The cap can be made in any medium-weight fabric, through to thicker wools and (my favourite) cotton moleskin.  

During the development process, the design went through lots of minor tweakings, thanks to my advisory committee of blokes (Chris in the office's sons and hubby, my mate Dale and his workmates, and my cover-boy Chris, who somehow got bundled into the whole thing and ended up on the cover without any sort of plan... ahem.. or payment ...apart from a hat).

 

Some of the sample hats have been claimed by members of said advisory committee, and can be seen on the streets of Melbourne as we speak.  I've heard that compliments have been made and girls have borrowed them.  And the blokes like them, which is what I was aiming for. 

 



 While we're on the subject of new patterns, this month's Australian Homespun Magazine has the final in the "A Trip to Remember" project of the month.  It's a bag designed by Amy Butler, with instructions developed by yours truly.

 Amy was in a tight spot last year, when her pattern-writing staff were away sick, and the project needed to be put together.  I was called in to help ...so I helped. 



The design and pattern are not mine - I was sent a sample and a pattern, and I worked out the work flow, wrote instructions, included a few tips for things that I thought might help and took the photos.  And then the Homespun editors did their re-working to the Homespun format and we have the final project.  It was a bit of a group-effort, really.

So... lots of holiday sewing for you!   Back to book-writing for me.....

 

Speaking of publishing....

With all that thinking and talking about book ideas, I forgot to mention that my project is in this month's Australian Homespun Magazine "A Trip To Remember" (project of the month) series.

 It actually would have looked a lot better in the photo, had the strap been ironed after it traveled by (wayward, late, stress-inducing...) courier service to Sydney, but I guess it has a right to wear its battle-scars with pride. 

The strap actually sits in a lovely curve, like this....

I based the styling on memories of my mother's 'beauty case' from the 1960's.  It could indeed be used to carry toiletries instead of craft supplies but it was designed as a crafting-on-the-go bag. 

It has lots of pockets inside the lid and around the sides to carry tools, threads etc, and a roomy middle bit to carry the work-in-progress.  It can open right up and sit on your lap in the car (only if you're the passenger!) or on a train and you can stitch or knit or crochet away to your little heart's content.

After the courier was tracked down and the parcel containing the bag was picked up (by the magazine editor ...from a courier depot miles away.... late one rainy Friday evening...), we hoped for smooth sailing with getting the project to print, but it appears that there was another hiccup.

The wrong file was accidentally sent to print and one of the pattern pieces is labeled wrongly.  There is an errata message to go in next month's mag that says something like this...

There are two patterns marked as the Lid Side Panel. The label on the larger of the two patterns (printed on top of the Grand Adventure ‘Shorts Back’ pattern) should have been labelled ‘Lid centre panel’ and the markings at the top and bottom of this pattern should say Handle placement.

A new template can be found here.

This little carry-case is a really satisfying sew.  My pattern testers all felt very chuffed with themselves when they made their own versions.... and come to think of it, so did I.   Everything just comes together nicely and it looks all cute and perky and retro.  Lovely.

The fabric is all Amy Butler's LARK range.

EDITED TO ADD: If you can't get your hands on a glossy paper version of the mag, you can buy a digital copy of this magazine ($3.50AUD) here.  Or you can subscribe to the digital magazine for a year.

Hangin' with the crew in Homespun.

If you happen to have this month's Australian Homespun Magazine, you'll see what all that secret squirrel work I was doing last year was about.  It's a big "project of the month" bag-making bonanza! 

As you can see, I'm in fine company....

We were each given the challenge of making a particular piece for a luggage set, working with Amy Butler's "Lark" fabric range.  Over the course of this year, the projects will appear in Homespun and you can work through them as you please.

Since the main photo was done as a double-page spread, I thought I'd find a better version online than I could take myself.  ...Ummm.  No.  I had to take this from Amy Butler's Facebook page and it'sTINY.  Sorry.

Of course, I remembered to hone in on the parts of the picture that included my own work...

I designed a craft-project carry case (what else?), inspired by vintage hat-boxes and beauty cases.  It's a structured oval shaped case that you can sit on your lap.  It has a lid that flips right open and  pockets on the inside of the lid and around the inside wall, so you can access everything you need to craft on the go. (Or I guess you could use it as a beauty case...?).

I also developed the instructions for Amy Butler's contribution to the range.  She provided the pattern and a sample, and I wrote the how-to and made the bag.  It's a big carry-all/overnight bag (and I use one of my samples of it as a swimming bag).

If you can't get the actual magazine in your part of the world, you could subscribe to the digital version here.

A bit famous again

Gosh - I'm feeling a bit like the golden child (being Homespun Magazine's "Favourite" and all).

...and I'm very, VERY busy (getting ready for the wholesale show on the weekend).  So that's it from me for now.

Seeya on the other side of Sunday!

A wee spot of errata in the magazine article...

I submitted these photos with my Homespun project but they didn't make it into the magazine. These show the strap being attached to the lavender bag.

The diagram that was in the magazine (which was not drawn by me) is a little bit wrong. It's missing the top bits of the bag pieces, so there's no little cut away area (in which to sew the strap).

Apart from that, the diagram in the magazine shows the strap placement a little more clearly than these photos (in that the diagram is of the whole bag).

Just thought I'd clear that up....

Homespun Project

This month's Australian Homespun magazine includes a little "weekend project" by yours truly.

It's a scrap-busting idea I had one afternoon last year - hanging lavender handbags. I was so pleased with how they turned out, it was very difficult to keep the secret for so long.

They only take tiny scraps of fabric and a bit of braid or ric-rac. They're filled with lavender flowers to make your wardrobe smell sweet.

If you'd like to make these - or other lavender-filled goodies - we have some lavender flowers for sale in the (website) shop. 100g packets (as seen in the photo above) are $8.80. This is enough lavender to make about 4 little handbags.