Hacking the Goober Pea Design Sunshine Coast Hat~

 

Most bucket hats are just 1 circle on top, 1 rectangle for the sides and the brim.... But the Goober Pea Design's Sunshine Coast Hat is made from 6 panels and a brim and that was what gave me the immediate idea to hack this into the perfect mesh paneled hat for my little girl. 

My little one is very very active and whenever she is out and about, she sweats buckets. As much as we like her to wear a hat with a wide brim when outside, she often finds hats too hot. 

I looked through my fabric stash and knew that this mesh fabric (i bought it to make bags) matches the rainbow sparkly gold foil fabric perfectly so I embarked on my mesh hat journey. 

I took some photos of the steps so I thought I will share it in case anyone wants to try my hack!

First, you need the Sunshine coast hat pattern. You can buy it here if u don't have it yet, (aff link)

The mesh paneled hat hack will be a fully lined hat with an elastic rim (I used FOE for the rim on the inside. 

This is the inside:

You will need 8 pieces of fabric panel (4 outer, ,4 lining if the fabric will be different on the inside and outside) and 2 pieces of mesh fabric panels. 

I used the woven pattern pieces for this as my mesh and fabric are both non-stretch but you can also use the knit pattern pieces if you wish to do the stretch version. 

I also used the height of the casing piece as a guide to cut out 4 rectangular pieces just slightly longer in width to the bottom of the fabric panels for use with my mesh:

I position 2 such pieces right side facing about 3/4 inch above the bottom seam then i sew it together line 1/4 inch from the bottom of the 2 rectangular pieces.

I fold the pieces down and iron (be careful not to use too hot an iron in case the mesh melts!) Then I edge-stitch 1/8 inch to keep the 2 pieces together. This allows me to have a nice finish for the hat later on. 

I trim off the width of the rectangular pieces to match the width of the mesh panel and set the panels aside.

Now I follow the instructions for the unlined version and sew the 6 of the panels up in this order: 2 woven 1 mesh, 2 woven 1 mesh. 

Here's how it looks on the last step when i put the hat together

Now this is the part that I actually didn't take photos of but i should have - how to line the hat so that the side seams of the panels are hidden. I did attempt a video but I'm not sure how clear it was. 

But here are the steps in words:

1) We now have 4 more fabric panels left unsewn. Proceed to sew 2 panels together on just one side then repeat for the other 2 panels so that u get 2 sets of 2 side by side fabric panels (I'm just gg to call this "lining panel" and it will refer to the 2 panels sewn together on 1 side). The original 6 pieces (woven woven mesh woven woven mesh) that was sewn together will now be called "unlined hat"

2) Cut into the seam allowance at the top of the unlined hat  it doesn't get caught when u are sewing. 

3) Put the unlined hat wrong side down such that only 2 woven panels are at the bottom, then scrunch up the remaining panels on top, then place the lining panel right side down on top of everything. You essentially get a "sandwich" whereby the rest of the hat is inside a sandwich of the lining panel and 2 woven panels of the unlined hat. Sew around the top of the 2 woven panels. 

4) Turn right side out and u would get a lined section! 

5) Repeat for other side!

If done correctly, all the seam allowances at the 2 sides of the mesh panels will be hidden in between the outer and inner fabric panels like this:

Then we are left with the last and relatively easy part. You follow the instructions for the unlined hat on how to attach the brim to the hat. Then for the exposed seams, I used slightly stretched FOE to enclosed them (This also helps create a better seal so that the hat doesn't fly off when my girl wears it on windy days. (You can also follow the instructions to do a knit casing or drawstring casing etc etc.) Adrienne's instructions are 100% better than mine any day! haha. 

And that's it! I'm really sorry I don't have better photos/videos of the last, rather crucial part. Perhaps when i get the time, I will make another for my boy and take better photos to update this! Meanwhile, I'm happy to help you out when u get stuck!

Hope the post helped!! Let me know if you try the hack I would love to see your version! 💓 

Hacking the S.U.A.T Shirtzie Dress

I got to admit, when I first saw Shirtzie by S.U.A.T (Stitch upon a time) I hesitated. Mainly because I seldom wear such low cut dresses (I'm pretty flat chested lol #sayitlikeitis) and the cross front bodice looked really low on some testers! 

However, there was the option of the scoop neck which looks lovely. And what sold this pattern was the fact that there are instructions to guide you on adding bra Cup pockets to the bodice! (That means you can go braless!) Talk about a summer staple! 

You can see that I embraced the cross front bodice here and tried it anyway. I love this! It's modest enough for me that I can see myself going to dinners wearing this (maybe not work cos I teach teenagers and you know how they are!) and the most important thing is this cross front doesn't reveal too much when I bend over =p Yes. It's very important for me not to have any wardrobe malfunction =p

So where's the hack I hear you ask? 

Well... I actually made this dress with 2 fronts instead of 1! 

Tadah! This is the SAME DRESS, worn the other way around! Now I have a scoop neck dress! 

Don't you love it when you can wear a dress in more ways than one? 

I love how the scoop neck is much more modest in front and I can definitely wear this side in front for work while keeping the cross front for date nights. 

But ready to see the backs?

This is the cross front on the back. It fits very nicely and makes my back look really good! And for work, I just wear a light cardigan over it. Perfect! 

 Similarly, here's the beautiful scoop neck on the back!

Are you inspired to try a 2 fronts Shirtzie dress now? Let me know if you do! I would love to see your version! 

And yes, I must say this: THERE'S POCKETS! Pockets is a BIG reason why self-made dresses rock. 

Fabric info: Bodice in Milk Silk, Skirt in modal fabric. (from destash.)