2. That's what little boys are made of

Before the dead-line, I managed to scrape in two more hats. There is nothing like leaving things to the last minute! Of course, I once again used Nicole Mallalieu's (You Sew Girl) Kids' Hats Pattern. I should mention that if you are looking for options, this pattern has them. You have three sizes, small, medium and large. Then added to that, you have a range of different brim sizes and also brim finishes to make your hat just how you like. I personally like to go large when it comes to brims and give my boys lots of protection from the sun, so my brims are the second largest brims and the boys are wearing medium sized hats.



My favourite thing with these hats, I wasn't really sure wasn't going to work. I love the appliqué. I applied some Steam-a-Seam 2 to the back of some left-over lining fabric and then cut it out a couple of frog motifs, really carefully. I then peeled off the backing and ironed them onto the (already interfaced) crown pieces. I lowered the feed dogs and used my free-motion foot to stitch them down.



I was really worried about those long, skinny toes, but it seems to have worked. I did three laps around each frog, matching the main colour of the frog on each one. When I did the toes, I didn't so much go around the edges as I did kind of meander along them.



I have made these hats before using corduroy, which has really stood the test of time. The boys hats have been through the ringer and so abused, yet they still look really good. The lining in the old hats was a Kokka cotton-linen, so it will be interesting to see how well the quilter's cotton holds out.



I'll be back here very soon to do the wrap up from the sew-along...