Customer Reviews
I made a pill box hat for my wife, hand sewn. Finished I had my wife try the hat - it’s too d—n big. I used the template for small adult. I didn’t make a mock up for her because I made a raccoon hat for me with g m large template which fits fine. The pill box for my wife is so big I can wear it. I’m 6’3 size 7.5 head. My wife is 5’6 with a head size of 7. I assumed it would fit fine. About 20 hours later and sore fingers I find that I was incorrect.
Now what do I do? It was out of an expensive snow fox and is very pretty. But not for her.
Very disappointed.
Any suggestions would be welcome. Nick
Hello Nick,I understand you had a frustrating experience. You invested considerable time and money to make your wife a hat and it did not fit when it was finished, that is very frustrating, and you are understandably frustrated! I have a few ideas for what may have happened, and a suggestion for how to fix her hat.
First off, the fur pattern piece (B) for the Adult Large size measures 13.5', of course two of those are used for the hat, so that brings us to 27', but to figure out the circumference of the finished piece we must subtract the seam allowance (1/8' x 4 = 1/2') bringing it down to 26.5'. Once the lining is sewn in, this will further reduce the internal circumference of the hat by about one inch, bringing the large size internal circumference to about 25.5'.
The fur pattern piece (B) for the Adult Small measures 12', and using the same math ( 12'x2'=24', 24'-1/2'=23.5', 23.5'-1'= 22.5') brings us to a circumference of 22.5'. Your instincts were right, the Adult Small should fit your wife. So, something must have gone wrong during the process.
While it's impossible for me to know exactly what happened with your wife's hat, I have a couple guesses. It's possible that a smaller seam allowance was used (the pattern calls for a 1/8' seam allowance on the fur) though this would increase the circumference by a maximum of 1/2', so that's unlikely. It's also possible that the hide was accidentally stretched while sewing, though it's unlikely that would result in a hat 3' larger than it should be. It is possible the pattern was printed at a larger scale when you made the Adult Small size (ie: 125% instead of 100%), this would make the pattern larger than intended and result in a larger hat. Though, presumably you double checked the 1' scale square after printing, so that's unlikely. It is also possible you accidentally used your Adult Large pattern pieces when tracing for your wife's hat, resulting in a hat that fits you and not your wife. This is my best guess for what happened. It is easy to do, and something I've done too on occasion!
The good news is, since her hat is too large, it can be made smaller! You can remove your stitches from the hat, re-cut the pattern pieces and sew it back together. This will also help you to evaluate what went wrong on the first try, and avoid this same frustration in the future.
Best of luck on your future sewing endeavors!
-Rebecca Darling
Love this pattern was so excited to finish up my first couple projects! It’s easy to use and the videos are perfect for learning lots!
I love the videos that go with your patterns. I have learned so much watching them. I keep going back as a reference. Thank you!
This is well worth it for anyone looking to make a fur hat. Between the instructions and the videos there is no guess work. Very easy to follow and very through. Extremely happy with my purchase!
Her patterns are excellent. She explains the construction in detail. I hope she keeps making more patterns and videos.