Refashion - summer hat from linen shirt

This hat pattern I have made before out of natural linen and I wear it all the time. I had a black linen shirt and knew I wanted a black hat with polka dots. It was actually quite tricky getting enough material for a hat, due to curves, from the shirt - but I did it. I do think I am going to have to put a thin red ribbon around the seam between the crown and brim just to spark it to life a bit.

I was taking new photos as I just could not get the photo of me edited right. Eli saw me and volunteered to model. Although the linen was black someone said to me "you have made a green hat". Sure enough in direct light it has a greenish tinge somehow, I am a bit gutted by that.

Really pleased with the hat. This is now my third one and I have adjusted the original pattern so much that I almost feel I can call it my own.

Linking to these places and Crazy Mum Quilts.

Refashion - linen top for me

I have been stashing this long sleeved 100% linen shirt for ages intending to make a summer top. I had wanted a wee capped sleeve but the armholes on these shirts are huge. When sewing under the arms it was still too big for a sleeve and I even had to put a little facing in to make it decent.

The linen shirt I started with

So I took the main collar off as it was really large and on a summer day when the back of my neck is sunburnt I like my collar to stand up. Using some cute patchwork material I made a much smaller version.

The side view - with a high low bottom

Fixed the arm holes and took the arms off altogether. One arm ended up being the binding for the armholes. I was going to use my quilting material but could not bring myself to cut through my metre of fabric to make a bias strip!! So I did a square cut and put it around the bottom, after I had changed the shirt tails to a high / low look. A bit of a cheat really.

I link to these places.

Refashion an Op Shop find.

Well my latest refashion I did complete in a night. I guess it could just be called an adjustment. I chose the top at the Op Shop for several reasons -

Before

After

• I loved the pale pink colour
• It is linen
• It has sleeves

But it was too long, down past my bottom and then it looked like I was trying to hide myself. I also absolutely loved the neckline details and thought that it would look more cohesive if the same feature was on the bottom of the shirt.

the neckline detail that I replicated along the bottom of the shirt

So I chopped off about 5 inches from the bottom and straightened it. Added a self made binding to and top stitched it around the bottom to allow for a frayed edge like the neckline. Took the sleeves in more at the bottom binding. Sewed on new buttons.

Now I have a cool summer shirt for the days when I feel that I have had enough sun and need to cover up.

I link to these places.