Tag Archives: hat

A Dora Top, a Knitted Hat and a Walk

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So far I have only blogged about my Dora Dresses, but if you have had a look at my pattern on Etsy, you will have seen that the download includes the option to make a hip length top version also.

The best part about the top version is that it is a great scrap busting pattern requiring very little fabric to make, approximately 1m for most sizes. You do also need 0.5m of lining material, but with wider fabrics and in smaller dress sizes you may be able to squeeze the whole top plus the lining out of 1m.

The fabric for the version in the photos below was from Backstitch. I bought it quite a long time ago, and had some scraps leftover from another project. This top was made out of those scraps, win!

The Dora top is a great layering piece and very versatile. In the summer I would wear my cotton lawn versions by themselves with jeans (it doesn’t really get warm enough here for shorts), but in winter I am layering them up with big cardigans and still getting so much wear out of them.

Below I’m wearing mine with this long cosy cardigan I bought a while ago from Celtic and Co. I love their knitwear and it’s made in the UK. I really should try and knit some cables at some point, but I’m still a bit intimidated, maybe one day.

If you like the look of the Dora top you might enjoy these posts about my Dora Dresses. The silver one and the green one.

Handmade Dora Top Sewing Shetland

Handmade Dora Top Attie and Dora

Speaking of knitting, I just finished making this hat for Aaron. I had a couple of balls of wool left from this jumper project and the pattern for the jumper came with an additional hat pattern, so I thought I’d give it a go. It’s just a simple hat, as I left off the colour work, but Aaron says it is his favourite hat ever, so not a bad result. I think it looks a bit weird on me, but it really suits him and my dad has already requested I make him one, so I think this hat has been an unexpected hit.

Hand Knitted Hat Attie and Dora

Aaron in Hat Attie and Dora Blog

We took the above photos on our Sunday walk a couple of weeks ago. It was really fun taking photos of Aaron. It made me realise I should probably make more handmade clothing for him. Can anyone recommend any good menswear patterns? I really struggle to find any I like. I did buy the Aldrich menswear book ages ago so maybe I should try drafting my own. So many ideas, so little time 🙂

Recycled Slouchy Hat

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With winter dragging on, I was desperate for a new warm winter hat, but didn’t fancy knitting one. I wanted an instant result, so I thought I would try making one from an old wool dress I had been planning to recycle. I sketched out a basic hat shape on dot and cross tracing paper for a pattern and added a 1cm seam allowance. Placing it on the bottom of the wool dress, double thickness, I cut both pieces in one go. The hat was assembled by stitching around the curved edge, right sides together. It really was as simple as that. I ironed the seams flat, as best I could, with a cotton cloth between the fabric and the iron et voila. Using the already finished edge of the dress as the base of the hat made it so easy, no need to add a band or finish the edge. I made it very oversized as I prefer my hats floppy. I am very happy with this result. It looks a bit like a tea cosy….but I love that.

Homemade Hat 4

Wool Dress Recycle

One thing I could have done to improve this make, would have been to felt the wool first to prevent unravelling. I didn’t here as the wool content of this fabric was low, so I didn’t think it would work.
However, I recently acquired a pile of old 100% wool jumpers to recycle, so I intend to felt them and try again. Check out my felted jumper stash below, should get a few hats out of that lot.

Felted Wool

4 Colours Felted Wool

I was originally planning to share my latest make with you today, a Grainline Alder Shirt Dress, but unfortunately ran out of thread before I could finish the button holes. Living on an island doesn’t lend itself to last minute haberdashery shopping, so unfortunately I only have a sneak peak of the nearly finished product for you. Happy Sunday.

Alder Shirt Dress