Buffalo Check Country Earflap Hat

First order of business: today is my first post for Petit a Petit + Family. I'm sharing a pattern for a sewn pixie bonnet called the Blizzard Bonnet. I must knit a million pixie bonnets every Christmas, how did I not think of sewing one sooner?! Cute. Fast. Seasonally appropriate if your city got slammed with 22" of snow over the weekend. Go check it out.

In the spirit of fairness, and toasty ears, I made J a hat too. You can never have too many in the dead of winter when things get lost between home and school, or coat closet and front door. This bright buffalo check is not likely to be mistaken for someone else's in the school coat room. So, new hats for both kids made with the last odd pieces of Robert Kaufman Mammoth Flannel in Red Buffalo Check left over from my Tamarac Jacket. I can't rave enough about this flannel, sturdy and soft all at the same time. Perfect for outerwear. I used what sherpa fleece I could get at Joann, but I don't recommend what they have on the shelf. The quality is pretty poor and not equal to the flannel. I recommend the Shannon Fabrics Sherpa from fabric.com. It is thicker and warmer, but still acrylic so it's won't retain moisture from melting snowball fights. 

The pattern is the Country Earflap Hat by Worthy Goods. This hat is fun to sew and fun to wear, possibly explaining why this is my fourth one. I used black corduroy from my local fabric shop for the bias binding, and the underside of the brim. The pattern is not written for bias binding but I wanted the detailing to have something in common with the Blizzard Bonnet. 

Maybe you noticed that the mittens match. If the kids ever go back to school I will have the mitten pattern to share, too. 

Things are getting out of hand. I think it's time to go home. 

Credits:
Pattern: Country Earflap Hat by Worthy Goods
Main Fabric: Mammoth Flannel by Robert Kaufman
Lining Fabric: Shanon Fabrics Sherpa Fleece from Fabric.com
Bias Binding: Self Made with Black Corduroy from Fleishman Fabrics on Fabric Row

Pixie Bonnet Pattern in all the same fabrics on Petit a Petit and Family today!

Railroad Stripe Sunny Day Shorts

{Please forgive the clothing continuity issues between this photo and the rest of the post. I didn't think of this combination until well into our 48 second photo shoot, and I didn't have any Smartees to bribe my model whose patients gave out around the 32 second mark. I am please to have even this one image. Liberty Theo info here.}

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Does this picture look familiar? We've found our shorts sweet spot, and when we get something right we do it again, and again, and again.  I made the same style for my expert shorts modeler last year. Same everything, but different fabric. They are lengthened using my tutorial for Oliver & S.

The fabric is the delicious Robert Kaufman Railroad Denim from Fancy Tiger. It's the perfect weight for summer shorts. I love everything about this fabric, infact I've already ordered more.

Sewing this simple is all about the details, I top stitched the pocket edges and the side seams, and I did a double line of stitching at the hem just to add a little interest. These pocket details never get old. I used a little piece of micro houndstooth inside the front pockets, and a little scrap of yellow Kona Cotton for the Theo-esque back pocket.

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Pertinent Info:
Pattern: Sunny Day Shorts by Oliver + S
Fabric: Robert Kaufman Railroad Denim Indigo from Fancy Tiger Crafts
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You can also find this project:
Kollabora Shorts on the Line

STYLO Restyled : Worthy Goods Country Ear Flap Hat

My online crafting career started with an Etsy shop in 2010. One of my very first favorite shops was Worthy Goods filled with Dory's effortlessly cozy hats and accessories inspired by her enviable Maine lifestyle. Lucky for the online sewing world her designs are available as PDF patterns. I made the Country Ear Flap Hat for Hansel's Stylo look, and immediately saw it's future potential. So many opportunities for cozy linings (sherpa, fleece, flannel) and durable exteriors (tartan, moleskin, corduroy).

It is really hard to find interesting sewing patterns for little boys that aren't too fussy or too weird (FYI Worthy Goods has other hat patterns!). As everybody already knows, I have a son and a daughter, the Country Ear Flap Hat is exactly the sort of pattern I will make again and again for both kids, and their little friends. I'm starting my Holiday gift making with a bang with two new hats for a couple of J's friends. They are reasonably fast to make, and require little fabric relative to most clothing. Our friends will have toasty warm ears this winter.

PATTERN: Country Ear Flap Hat by Worthy Goods is available in a child's size and two adult sizes. If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you know I love a basic, well fitting pattern that allows for a ton of customization. The Country Ear Flap Hat is exactly that. Simple changes in fabric make each hat totally different. After taping together 7,000 sheets of paper for PDF garment sewing, it's a breath of fresh air that this pattern doesn't require a single piece of tape and consists of only 3 pieces.

FABRIC: The dark green exterior is moleskin, the light green is heavy weight wool blend. Both are lined with bright orange flannel, and the earflaps are lined with faux sherpa. I whole heartedly recommend all the fabrics except the sherpa. I was too cheap to buy the organic cotton, and too impatient to wait for the nicer polyester on back order. In a pinch I bought this at Joann, and the quality is pretty terrible. Next time I would spring for the organic cotton version, the expense is totally worth it to match the quality of the other fabrics and the design. I used a covered button kit for the moleskin. The wool was much to thick for a kit covered button, so I found an acceptable vintage button in my stash.

FIT/SIZE: For Stylo I made J the child size. Its a bit snug, and the boys I have in mind for these hats both have lots of thick hair, so I made the adult small size just incase. This size fits me, but since I also have thick hair, I will be making the adult large for myself. The child size fits L (5) well.

ALTERATIONS/SEWING TIPS: No Alterations. Next time I would cut back the brim facing in a smooth line. I don't remember what the pattern calls for but I instinctively notched it, and the notches show through the moleskin fabric. The wool is a bit thicker and hides this flaw. When I sewed up the brim, I gave all the seams a good pressing before sewing the last one. Its tough to get your iron up into the top of the crown after the whole thing is assembled.

You can find Dory's fantastic ready made accessories and patterns in her Worthy Goods shop. Please check out her website, and I highly recommend her instagram feed for lots of examples of her recent work. I guess I should say I got this pattern for free. I wanted something unique so I went outside of the normal Stylo pattern providers (and outside of my normal introverted comfort zone) and asked Dory if she would give me a copy on my own. Therefore, I feel like my praise is genuine.

The only Stylo piece I have left to highlight is the self drafted vest. I am hoping to share the pattern I made, but as all you sewist can imagine, that is taking longer than I thought. It is very nearly ready...Stay tuned!

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More STYLO Restyled

Boy's Winter Hat and Mittens

This year's hat and mittens for J have been a long time coming. I finished the hat so long ago I can't remember when he started wearing it. The mittens are hot off the needles. Yesterday, while walking home from coffee I realized J was wearing a picture worthy outfit, so we hurried home to document my triumph over procrastination.
The body color is  Paton's Classic Wool in Dark Gray Marl, that I impulse bought at A.C. Moore. The blue is also Paton's Classic Wool (Royal Blue, maybe?) from a  few years ago, and the green is from my Wool of the Andes stash (Grass, I think). I fully intended to keep it simple this time around, and knit matching hat and mittens in solid Marl, for the understated sophistication befitting of an almost 7 year old. But somehow a few bright colors found their way onto the needles (as usual!).

Both patterns are my own, and an expansion on the basics. The mittens are a soon to be added size for the Simple Ribbed Mitten pattern.

Scrappy Cut Off Shorts

Since moving to the hard surface filled city, all of my kid's pants have holes in them. He don't actually grow that fast, so this pair of size 4T pants will work for this size 5 summer. I could have just cut them off, but that is nothing to blog about and the edge band makes them slightly more respectable. The edge band is made from one of a stack of cast off button down shirts. Feel free to use whatever scraps you have laying around. The kids blow through the knees, M blows through the elbows. 

Further instructions here.

Boys

I am slowly coming out of the knitting frenzy started by an Etsy Finds email a few weeks ago. Now that I have time to survey my work, I'll share a few custom orders. This is my favorite little boy bonnet so far. So simple and I already had the yarn from the Shawl Collar Baby Coat.

I am in hot pursuit of more boy friendly items. Stay tuned.