Sewing for Mom + My New Hat

I have the fabric, I have the mother, now I just have to get started.

I want to make my mother a few summer tops and, if you saw my last post, you saw the beautiful cotton floral fabric I picked up at Metro Textiles on Thursday (also above).

I have a few patterns I think will work, but I may just start by making her a simple sloper using a shirt pattern of mine.   She tried on my patchwork madras shirt yesterday and the fit isn't bad.  Her shoulders are much narrower of course, and her back is quite curved, but I can make those adjustments pretty easily (I think).



I want to make this this coming week and I'm asking you to hold me accountable.  Once we have the sloper fitted, the top shouldn't take too long -- we're talking basic tunic/caftan shapes.

In unrelated news, I wanted to share some cool shots of cars I've seen on my most recent photo shoots.  I don't own a car myself but I'd be happy to have either of these in the garage.  Actually, I don't have a garage either.





Nice, huh?

Moving right along, I did something I'm not proud of recently: I went to a brick and mortar hat store and tried on straw hats.  I saw a gorgeous Stetson Panama fedora for $175 but, friends, I couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money for something that would get ruined in the rain or could blow off my head while I'm bicycle riding.  Plus where do you put it when you go to a restaurant?  (Hat check girls are a vanishing species.)

The part I'm not proud of is that I immediately went on Amazon and found a much, much cheaper version -- not a true Panama but still a Stetson (and straw) that cost about 1/4 the price.   It arrived yesterday and I love it.







I'm thinking of this as a starter hat and if I wear it a lot this summer maybe I can rationalize spending more on a true Panama purchased from my favorite hat store, J.J. Hat Center.  BTW, they don't carry the hat I bought so it's not like it was an option.

Finally, I'm really enjoying my new iPhone.  Who knew what a joy texting could be, or just checking my email on the fly?  I've even joined Instagram!

In closing, what does one do with a hat like this when you need to take it off in a public place -- lay it on the floor?

Have a great day, everybody!