https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/kitty-cat-hat-3 • Posted by Nikki S.
I bought a kitty cat hat a while back and wanted more. The Hats were like $45 each, so I decided I could make mine myself. Finding the fur is the hardest part by the way. I had to go into San Fransisco to get mine. So if you find yourself in this spot you can go to www.etsy.com/shop/OaktopiaDesign and get one for $20 which is about what the fur costs (wish i had bought my hat there and only spent $20 vs. $45. But you know me, I gotta give my own spin on everything.
I bought a kitty cat hat a while back and wanted more. The Hats were like $45 each, so I decided I could make mine myself. Finding the fur is the hardest part by the way. I had to go into San Fransisco to get mine. So if you find yourself in this spot you can go to www.etsy.com/shop/OaktopiaDesign and get one for $20 which is about what the fur costs (wish i had bought my hat there and only spent $20 vs. $45. But you know me, I gotta give my own spin on everything.
Sorry I have no pictures of my creative process....I kind of get lost in the project and the camera is the last thing on my mind. So you know I am a fan of the paper bag pattern. So I took my $45 cat hat which was black, turned it inside out, and traced around it with a sharpie magic marker (leaving myself a little room for the hem).
Then I cut the paper bag out, and then gave my fur a good brushing so that all of the fur faced inwards towards the center of the project. (so when I cut my fur it didn't end up with a bad hair do....I learned this from experience on my first two hats....what an ugly disaster that was).
I folded my fur in half,right sides together, and checked that the fur was all facing the center of the project.
I pinned my super sexy paper pattern to the fur, and cut it out, leaving myself about 1/2 inch extra room (for mistakes, it's always a good idea to leave a little room for mistakes.)
Now I gently unpinned the pattern, but left the fur pinned together with right sides together. I first sewed along the outer rim from 1/2 inch of the bottom hem to 1/2 inch of the bottom hem on the other side. This was so I could turn under the hem along the face. The sewing was very hard because the fur got caught in my sewing machine a lot, but if I trimmed the fur, there was an obvious line that looked terrible. So I just toughed it out. That old Singer my mom gave me 20 years ago will do almost anything. BTW it was old when she gave it to me...it's probably from the 70's judging the super swell baby puke green color.
Lastly I turned under the the bottom hem and hand sewed it with a blanket stitch (because it looked like crud when you sew it with the machine...there's this big line going through the fur).
And viola you have a cat hat, you may not have any sanity or a working sewing machine anymore but you have a hat you can proudly boast as your own. Like I said if you want to forgo the cost and headache they are on sale at www.etsy.com/shop/OaktopiaDesign But I love the challenge and maybe so will you. Save your cocktails for after the project..it turns out a whole lot better if you do. *snicker*