I don’t know about you, but when a friend asks me to make something for them, it honestly makes me feel so good, so…honoured! It makes me feel like they truly appreciate and support my love of creating!
This is exactly what happened recently when my friend Steve asked me to make him a bucket hat like the one I had made for our mutual friend Geoff! Even how he asked was cute, he didn’t come right out and say, “would you make me a bucket hat” but rather “well if someone wanted to make me one too, I’d gladly take it” lol!
No matter how it came about, I was excited to make it and dove right in! Steve is a big, no HUGE Toronto Maple Leafs fan, and also a Blue Jays fan, so he said those were the 2 fabrics he’d like in his hat. All I needed to do was wait for him to measure his head so I knew what size to make!
Just like the last time I made a bucket hat, I used the Glory Allen Bucket Hat pattern, which is a free pattern if you sign up for his email! I think it was actually 5 free patterns you end up getting but I dont remember what the other ones were lol!
These are the sizes included in the pattern and Steve informed me that his head measurement was 23.5″, so then I had to decide if I should make a medium or a large! After doing some researching, it seemed like in the case of when you’re between 2 sizes, you should do the larger size so it’s not too tight, so that’s what I did!
There’s also a YouTube instructional video provided and he’s such a nice guy, it’s fun to sew along with him! It’s very beginner friendly too, he explains everything so well that I think the very beginning sewist could totally follow along!
This is the hat he makes in the video, a very cool and trendy colour blocked style. Since I was using the TML and the Blue Jays prints, mine wasn’t going to be quite so muted lol!
The fabrics he uses/recommends are a cotton twill, so heavier than what I was using, which meant I wanted to add some interfacing to my wovens, but not too much because I still want it to be light and not make your head sweaty! I used my favourite Flex Fuse because it is 100% cotton so still breathable, and I decided to only use it on one layer of the reversible hat. That way it would still be light and flexible, but have a little bit of structure to it.
I followed the pattern exactly as written and let me tell you, these hats are so quick, you’re done before you even know it!
I did the TML on one side and the Blue Jays on the reverse, but as I was sewing it, I realized it would have been fun to sew it in the same patchwork as the picture above, and then you’d see both of the prints at the same time sooooooo I made a second one in that style lol!
So….wanna see?!? I sure hope you do cause here they come lol…..
Aren’t those fun?!? I actually really like them both…and who doesn’t like wardrobe choices lol! I ended up giving them both to him and he can do with them what he chooses! Have a backup for when one is dirty, keep one in his car for when he forgets a hat, give it away…whatever he likes
He loved them and was very excited to wear one, especially since the day I gave them to him, we were off to an outdoor farmers market and he had forgotten to bring a hat lol!
He plunked the patchwork one on his head and away we went, and then this is where things took a slightly negative turn because it kept blowing off his head in the wind 😒!
I felt horrible, immediately regretting my decision to make the larger size! I tried not to make a big deal out of it but between you and me, I was mortified! I felt like I had failed. He said “I’ll just put a stitch in it and it’ll be fine”, and I suggested washing it in hot water and drying it on hight heat to shrink it. But still, mortified!!!!
Truth time here….I feel like the last few projects I’ve made for other people haven’t been “perfect” and that discourages me, and I feel like it becomes an awkward situation!
I started this post off by telling you how happy I am when asked to make something, but lately, along with the happiness, dread creeps in because I’m now doubting my skills!
I know, this Blog sure took a turn, but I always want to be honest with you, and you lovely people usually understand what I’m going through/feeling!
I don’t know how I could have avoided this, maybe I should have measured his head myself, or as well, to make sure we got the same measurement?
Ok, enough of the pity-party Shawna!!!! I will wait and see if he can shrink them, and if not, I’m just going to make him another one….or do I just make him another one now so I an sleep at night lol?!?
The bottom line is they turned out awesome, just for someone with a bigger head…or with hair (he’s bald lol). It’s not my workmanship in this case, just my execution…right?!?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, is this something you’ve felt/experienced? How would you remedy the situation? And if you wanna tell me to “get over myself “, you can tell me that too lol!
As always, it’s been a pleasure chatting with you and I thank you for being a part of my own little group therapy session lol!
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Hi Shawna!
What great hats!
I’ve been there, done that…. and it stings a bit, but it sounds like Steve was a good sport about it. I’d probably undo the seams and re-sew them, just making the seam allowance a wee bit bigger (3/4″ instead of 5/8″ or whatever the pattern calls for).
And, if it’s any consolation, the same problem may have arisen with the smaller size, because the hat wouldn’t “sit” quite as far down on his head….
I hope that he was able to shrink it just a wee bit! It’s a great hat, and I hope that he gets lots of wear out of it!
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See, I knew my people were out there lol! That’s so many seams to undo….all the top stitching, too, I think it wouod be quicker to make a new one lol! Oh yes, you’re so right, the smaller one might have had different issues, thank you for bringing that up, that’s a great point that I hadn’t thought of! He was such a great sport for sure, thank goodness or I might have burst into tears lol! Thank you a million times over for your reassuring comment, I appreciate it so much!
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commercial hats often have some round elastic and a cod lock to adjust the size of a hat.
i still have some mask elastic so if it were me, I’d be adding that to the hat
BTW, Closet Core has a free sunhat pattern and tutorial, that I want to try
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A cord lock, not a cod lock
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You’re so very right, of course they make them adjustable to fit everyone’s head, that makes perfect sense! Funny side note, when we were walking around the market there was a booth selling a ton of bucket hats and on the kids ones, they had strings hanging down with fun, slightly weighted objects on the ends…to keep them on their heads lol! We all got a big laugh out of them after deciding that I should do that to Steve’s, but have a hockey puck on one string and a baseball on the other lol! I’ll have to check out that pattern too, thanks for the suggestions! As always, I appreciate your supportive comments!
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