Newborn Hat Tutorial

    Store bought newborn hats are laughable in their immensity, at least as far as my babies’ heads are concerned; they get lost in those hats. The smallest size hats I found would not fit until my babies were about 2-3 months old! I question the qualification, of those who came up with the hats, for their knowledge in baby head sizes. When my babies were newborns, I had to rely on the inferior hats you get in the hospital until I felt they didn’t need to wear a hat anymore. 
    It started dawning on me recently that since deciding on having a home birth, I will not be getting a hospital hat this time. So before I gave myself a chance to ask my midwife if she would know where to get one, I went all gung ho about taking it into my own hands. And thus, I wiled away 15 minutes of my time to fashion a cozy hat for my anticipated little one. After making it, and deciding that it looked awful, I improved my design, and started over. This time I am satisfied with the results, and it was so simple, I presumed it would make a adequate initial contribution for my debut into tutorials. Keep in mind that it is nothing if not an amateur and unprofessional attempt at a hat, and there are probably countless superior baby hat tutorials out there...

Finished hat

    As this is my first ever tutorial, let me know if it doesn't make sense, I'm notorious for giving complex directions for something that can be explained simply. :o)

    I used a soft, stretchy knit for this project, but being that it is a thin fabric, I decided on two layers so there wouldn’t be any drafts through the hat. Two layers also allows for hiding the seams so they don’t irritate baby. 
I cut out a piece 13x10 inches, and folded it lengthwise, so it now measures 13x5 folded.

 Folded lengthwise

 Then fold once again the opposite way, leaving an overhang (this will leave only one layer for the brim fold, so it’s not too thick.) 

Cut rounded corners on the fold so the hat is contoured, leave it connected at the top by about an inch and a half. 

Unfold the second fold of the fabric and stitch along the un-folded edges as shown in the photo

 I used a zig-zag stitch so it will stretch. 

Once both sides are stitched, you can fold the short cap over the long one, wrong sides together. The long piece will be peeking out of the bottom of the short one.

 Now simply fold up the bottom of the long piece twice to form a hem that covers the unfinished bottom edge on the top piece.

 You could stitch it in place if you would like, but I left it, hoping the hem will just stay in place. 
So there you have it, nothing professional or expert, but better than the hospital hats for those babies who have teeny tiny heads. 

Store bought NB size hat next to mine, big difference!

Repurposed dress

It is one of my ambitions to have family photos taken every year, but that achievement requires a great deal of effort on my part. One of the challenges is finding matching clothes that don’t cost a fortune! This year, I was able to find everything needed for my boys and my husband, on sale, and from the same store! My problem? I didn’t find anything I could live with for myself. Most maternity shirts I found were expensive, and with less than 2 months left for me to wear it, out of the question! My solution: Make something myself! I found an XXL maxi dress on clearance that seemed to be the right color, and figured, here’s a yard or two of fabric I could make something with! I came up with a style I thought would be classy and uncomplicated without a pattern, and after a half day of figuring, re-figuring and sewing: voila, an $11 maternity shirt! It is admittedly not as fashionable as my last undertaking, but the best I could come up with for the material composition, jersey is not the most refined fabric if you must know! I am also showing the shirt itself which is a bit too boxy for me, I prefer to add the belt and have waist. Unfortunately my illustrations are typically more attractive than the finished project. 
As you can see, the weather here is always gorgeous, and my photographer is unparalleled! 

Designing

With a belt

Plain, sans belt.

The maxi dress I used for fabric