Making Pattern Piece A

Making pattern piece A

 Get a piece of paper roughly 60 cm square; Fold it twice (like a napkin). Now comes the tricky part. To make the desired shape you have to decide how poofy you want your hat. The width of the hat (i.e. the diameter) divided in half is measurement A. Measurement B is the bottom edge of the pattern piece. This you calculate from taking a measure of your head. I’m bigheaded so I’ve got 61 cm. To get the measurment for the base just divide by 4. To have some space for hemming witch makes the hat smaller I’ve got a measure of 16 cm, If I want to wear for example a kerchief underneath I need to increase to 16,5 or 17 cm. Measurement C is the length from top to bottom. I got mine by taking a measuring tape and putting it on top of my head, and standing in front of a mirror holding the tape measure so I could approximate the length of the pattern piece, to figure out the bulge bit. Se drawing:

 

 

Now it's a matter of connecting the dots. Look at the desired shape and draw yours to look similar. You can make a mockup of any fairly stiff fabric; I tend to use old sheets or those cheap Indian bedspreads. Too big is easier to fix than too small.

• You’ll need extra space if wearing coif or kerchief – if possible wear it when testing your pattern.
• When hemming the hat the hat will become smaller allow for that too. Attaching a brim will have the same effect.
• Leave enough seam allowance to be able to make adjustments in size.
• You may want to put in lining if the fabric is itchy, that also affects the size
  The thing to remember is that any increase or decrease of the measurement B will be multiplied by four. That means that adding 1 cm width will take you from hat size 60 to 64! So if the desired change in size isn’t that big, we’re talking mm. That can usually be solved by moving the seam a few mm out or inwards.
  
   Pattern piece A done! This is a basic shape that can work on its own, or you can add app 10-15 cm and cut out the front and get the scholars hat that my friend Renika has made for her husband.
  Or there’s a bunch of brim options. Instructions for making these will follow in forthcoming posts!