Hat!

 I wanted to try using two cameras to make a video--I have recorded everything, but I have come nowhere near editing, but I wanted to go ahead and make a record of the project I sewed for the video: a newsboy cap.

See, my ACNH player character wears the Dandy Hat so often that I was starting to notice its absence in my own wardrobe, so I decided to make one.  Some research showed that the hat in the game is technically a bakerboy cap instead of a newsboy cap (because it has a band), and also dark gray instead of black

I still made a black newsboy cap.

A big reason was because I had a newsboy cap pattern on hand, the Kaleidoscope Cap from Timber Lane Press, 1992

 I considered using the medium weight gray wool I have, but I thought I should use something lighter weight, since this pattern was obviously designed by a quilt pattern company for quilting cottons (the description on the back even uses the term "quilterly.")  I went with a supple black wool crepe. 

As I was reading through the directions, I realized that this is, basically, an indie pattern from nearly 30 years ago.  It has its quirks.  Some aspects are extremely detailed and "wow, that's a good idea" (baste the center seam, and only at the center, to see if the points align properly--and, since it was basted, it can easily be picked out to try again) while some are "have you ever sewn a garment before???"--specifically the instruction to trim the seam allowance inside the bill to a quarter inch.  That's it.  Not even a nod to notching.  Of course I notched.

...I just...didn't notch enough, and the curve ended up a bit lumpy, but not unwearably so.

 

and yessssss this is an incredible lint and cat hair magnet

 So, here's the whole hat

As usual, I shirked on ironing

I...still might manhandle it over the tailor's ham and see if I can press those seams, but it's passable

My first choice for the lining was a printed polyester, but the remnant wasn't large enough, no matter how many different ways I tried to approach it.  My second choice here is a large stripe interior decorating weight sample of what I think is pure silk, or at least something with a high silk content (which was a gift--thanks!  I'll mention here that the wool crepe was a thrift find.)

The pattern, if made as directed, creates a reversible hat--newsboy cap on one side, conductor hat on the other.  I did not follow those directions--the main difference being that I cut the bottom of the bill in the same black crepe instead of the lining fabric--because I never ever intend to wear it as anything but a newsboy cap.

Working with wool and silk...I forget how nice that is.

The pattern directions were very detailed about how to get all the crown section point to meet perfectly at the top center, and I did a decent job, but I really wanted a covered button there, so I covered a button and sewed it there.

This is not a covered button kit--don't currently have any!  I got a large-ish flat button from the stash and basically stitched it tightly into a fabric yoyo.  It worked, and better than the examples I saw online of the technique I expected.

Someday, I will edit that video showing the making of this hat; for now, here's an awkward picture of me wearing it, cat hair and all