I love Facebook for helping me to keep connected to some of my dearly loved, but far away, family members.
A few months ago my niece posted pictures of her young children in the kitchen helping her make pizza (or was it bread?).
According to the story told by the photo captions, the children decided they needed chef's hats at some point during the operations.
Alas, those poor, deprived little things had no chef's hats, and they appeared in the next frames wearing a ball cap and a tiara.
Their Great Aunt Noni kept that sweet little picture tucked away in her heart, and hoped some day the time would come to make those little helpers some real chef's hats of their very own.
The time came today.
I started by doing a Google search to find out what the circumference of an average 4 1/2 year old's head is (20").
Then I pulled out a hunk of white cotton fabric which I'd salvaged from a bed skirt purchased at the thrift store last year, and I cut out a 22 inch square.
I folded the square in half, and half again, and lightly finger-pressed it.
Then I used a very fancy tool to mark a cutting line that would produce a circle.
Oh.
You're right.
It's just a pencil and a piece of string.
But, hey...
...it worked.
I also cut a 7" x 22" piece of fabric for the band.
When I start sewing, I forget to take pictures, so things may be a little out of sync from here on in.
I folded the band in half along the 22" length and pressed.
I interfaced one half of the band.
I pressed down 5/8" along the other long edge, and clipped 1/4" slits at the half and quarter marks along the side.
I made 1/4" slits at three of the four fold marks on the circle.
On the fourth fold mark I cut a three inch slit straight up the fold.
I cut a 1" x 6" piece of fabric to finish the edge (you could just use seam binding).
I folded down 1/8" along one long edge and pressed.
I stitched the other edge in a 1/4" seam to the opened slit in the circle.
Then I pressed it toward the seam, folded it over, and stitched the other (folded) edge down over the seam.
I stitched diagonally across the fold at the top of the slit.
I attached two 4" lengths of Velcro to the band to make it adjustable.
I know it looks strange in the photo, but remember that the band folds in half.
I ran two lines of gathering stitches around the edge of the circle, starting and ending 5/8" from the slit.
Then I pulled up the gathers, placed the edges of the slits 5/8" from the ends of the band, matched the slits at the quarter and half marks on the band to the slits at the corresponding marks on the crown, pinned, and stitched.
One of the best tips I learned when I sewed jumpers for Two Friends years ago, was to make my first gathering stitch just outside the 5/8" seamline, and the next gathering stitch just inside the seamline.
When you stitch the seam, you sew right down the middle of those two lines...right on the 5/8" seam line...and it makes an incredibly neat and tidy gather.
Once you're done securing the seam you just pull out that outside gathering thread and you have a lovely finished product.
After I stitched the crown to the band, I folded the band right sides together, stitched the ends in a 5/8" seam, clipped the seam allowance, and turned the band right side out.
I placed the folded edge along the gathering seam (on the inside) and pinned it (on the outside).
Then I top stitched around the outside of the band.
Et voila!
The first little chef's hat is complete.
Tomorrow I'll make the second one.
And...
...I'm considering putting the names of those dear children on the bands of these hats with a little bit of freezer-paper and fabric paint magic.
I'm wondering if their momma will read this blog and tell me whether or not she likes the idea.
Hmmm. I wonder.
