Recognise this pattern?

Posted in children and babies by 66stitches

Yes, it’s from the Very Hungry Caterpillar. The minute I saw it I knew what it had to become…

This beautiful little sunhat is from The Purl Bee, a site I frequently bookmark. I made it with six cap panels instead of four, and made the brim in one piece rather than two. I also used some semi-stiff interfacing (sold for handbags, I think) to make the brim a bit less floppy. It worked a treat!

In fact it worked so well I made four of them.

One will be heading for Zimbabwe, one for Orange NSW, one staying here in Wellington… and one is an extra, for the next little baby that comes along. Naturally I had to buy four copies of this as well, to go with them…

15Jun2013

Hemmed in

Posted in techniques by 66stitches

I’ve always been a bit scarf-wary. Not the long snuggly woolly ones (what’s not to love?) or the nice soft cotton ones (I’m ready for you, weather), but the square-silky variety loved by grandmothers worldwide.

Or so I thought, until I worked with a lady who knew how to Wear A Scarf. She looked so good that I decided I had to learn, starting with this youtube video: 25 ways to wear a scarf.

Naturally, I wanted to look like this:

There’s still some way to go, but the scarf is sorted! I spent a whopping $4.50 at Spotlight on three of their best polyester chiffons, which matured in a drawer for several weeks pending hemming.

First I considered buying a special foot for the machine. Then I considered looking up techniques on Google. In the end, I just had a play, and magically it worked. Makes up for all those zippers I’ve botched EVEN THOUGH I’VE DONE IT A THOUSAND TIMES.

First, I zig-zagged the raw edge (this adds a bit of weight to the edge, and stabilises it).