09 October 2009

176. Pay-It-Forward: Steph from Tragically Ordinary (Refashion 32: Lined Newsboy Cap & Scarf from Men's Sport Coat and Dress Shirt)

Back in July, I joined a pay-it-forward meme, and committed to handcrafting gifts for 5 people. I recently finished this hat and scarf set for Steph from Tragically Ordinary and popped it in the mail to her. She sent me a note yesterday that she received it, so now I will blog about it:


Steph deemed herself a hat girl in a previous post, and she is in love with fall. I do refashions, so after many other ideas came and went, this hat and matching scarf from repurposed fabrics was a good blend of what she likes and what I like.

The hat is a newsboy cap from that same Japanese hat book I used to make various hats for Louis this summer, made from the sleeves of a men's sport coat. In Kyle's birthday box of goodies she included a ReadyMade magazine with instructions for a dyed plaid scarf from men's shirts by Martha McQuade of Uniform Natural, so I used a men's shirt to make a scarf and lined the hat with the same fabric.


From a construction standpoint, I'd run out of the heavyweight craft interfacing I used on the summer hats. I went back to the same store I'd gotten it from, and bought their heaviest interfacing... but it was not the same! I double-interfaced the hat brim and it was still pretty floppy. I didn't interface the hat body at all but think maybe I should have -- when I wore it, the structure of the hat got lost a little and it kind of looked like a beret:


And, surprisingly, this is the smallest hat size and it's a good 2 inches too big around the crown. Do Japanese women have big heads? I'm totally kidding! Just wondering why the pattern is drafted so darn big?

I'm so glad I signed up for this pay-it-forward thingy with my 5. It has been a really neat experience to dig around like a detective, reading through blog archives to get a sense as to who someone is. And then to create based on what I found. Now onto the other four recipients!

Have a great weekend, everyone! :)

11 comments:

  1. You look very Greenwich Village! My oldest daughter also has a small head, but she likes wearing floppy berets as a fashion statement.

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  2. Wow! I've been browsing through blogs of my pay-it-forward recipients too but know I'll be able to do more once the baby comes. I can't wait to see what you come up with for the other four!

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  3. I love the plaid scarf and the hat is very chic. If I hadn't just been through winter I might just get all nostalgic about the cute things you get to wear in autumn.

    ps no site errors, no freezing computer, can leave message (obviously) so whatever was happening ain't happening no more.

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  4. very cute hat! maybe you have a little noggin? I have a big head and hats are always tight on me. then when you add hair... anyway - nice job!

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  5. Very cute - I dig this look. How did you fringe the scarf ends? I want to make one of those fringed scarf that are trendy now and have some ideas in my head on how to fringe it. Keep spreading the crafty love.

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  6. Ooh - you've just given me an idea on what to do with all the excess fabric from my highly frayable and snaggable coat!

    Your may not be a "proper" newsboy because of the slight floppiness, but that just makes it a hybrid newsboy/beret. And it still looks good.

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  7. Hats are always tight on me!
    I too like the fringe on the scarf.

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  8. Love these accessories! Great job!

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  9. Very cool! I love the look, now you should make one for yourself ;)

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  10. @Faye - Thank you!

    @Gail - What a compliment! Someday I will see Greenwich Village and I'll be sure to bring a similar hat & scarf so I blend in.

    @Chocolate on my Cranium - I can't wait to see what I come up with, either! Ha, actually, I'm pretty close to done. And congrats on your new baby!

    @Mary Nanna - I do love fall clothes the most, I think. Thanks for the heads-up on the site issues. Never did pin down what caused them.

    @glam.spoon - I have never thought I have a smaller than average head! Although this pattern is from a Japanese book, and I assumed that a small Japanese woman's head is about the same size as mine. Maybe that is a bad assumption! I will measure tomorrow and check around the web. :)

    @Edris - I have never intentionally fringed fabric before, but it's a pretty easy process -- using a seam ripper, I pulled out the thread closest to the cut edge. And you keep going until you've revealed the size fringe you want (I stopped at 0.5"). If you click on the link in the original post to the ReadyMade article, it might explain it better in case my summary doesn't make sense. And I don't think this is in the article, but I did run a stay-stitching line on all sides of the scarf to try to keep the scarf from fraying endlessly.

    @Violet - If the coat fabric is soft, making it into a scarf sounds fab! Thanks for the hybrid love.

    @Kyle - I wish you were here so you could try on one of these hats. But like I said earlier, I'll just measure my head and see if there are some average head circumferences listed on the web. Cause I'm kooky like that.

    @NGLaLaLa - Thank you, my dear!

    @frogginette - Funny, I was thinking the same thing!!! ;)

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