Myshelf.com
Sept 13
Do you, like the author of this book, have a child that does not want to wear a sun hat? Give them a look at the fun hats in here and they are sure to decide otherwise! With wise advice concerning getting the children involved in choosing the fabric and trim for the hats, this is a book that is sure to be useful to anybody who ever makes anything for children. As with the other titles in this series this is love-to-sew, not learn-to-sew, so basic sewing skills are taken as read. The first part of the book gives you a crash course in basic hat-making with measuring heads, sewing on a brim or a peak, making crowns, stitching it all together and adding a lining dealt with briskly and remarkably effectively. You might need to know how to sew but millinery skills are not needed before you open this book. The projects themselves are mostly for babies and children up to 8 with plenty for each sex and many tastes covered. There are hats for a new baby, visors, peaked caps, a pretty floppy dress hat suitable for a formal occasion, explorer;s hat, a pirate hat and even a foreign legion style one to keep the sun off the back of the neck. Some of them are even made by recycling old clothes such as jeans, a dress, shorts and a shirt which gets my approval for green crafting. Each project is laid out with what you need in the way of materials and tools and there are instructions in the form of words mostly but with a staged photo or two to help you along. On the opposite page is a full-page photo of the hat being worn that you can show to the child in question for their approval. When I was younger children were thought to be made of asbestos and hats were not required (!) but I would have had a ball wearing some of these (and not getting sunburned into the bargain). A very useful bookcan we have one for adults too please?
Karen Platt Yarnsandfabrics.co.uk/crafts
Aug 13
Fun to wear and safe and practical into the bargain. Hats were once commonplace and seem to have gone out of favour. With warnings about being exposed to the sun, it makes sense to cover your childs head. Theres no better way to do it than with material chosen by your child. These fun fabrics make wearing hats a doddle. From babies to 8 year olds, Gill has come up with different patterns and ideas. Youll find materials and equipment plus all the basic techniques. You will need to enlarge the pattern pieces. Easy to use book for a variety of hat patterns.
Machine Knitting Monthly
July 13
If the sun does manage to struggle through, all kids will need a sun hat. Gill's book has 20 projects with templates, simple step-by-step pictures and lovely photos. She includes sun visors, caps, pretty sunhats for girls and modern hats for boys, all suitable for beginners and more advanced stitchers.
sewingisforgirls.blogspot.com
May 13
If you're feeling inspired to sew after seeing the 'Great British Sewing Bee' then 'Children's sun hats' by Gill Stratton is a wonderful bright bold fun book with some lovely hats in to spoil your children with this summer. Out of the 20 patterns three are baby hats, seven are for boys, seven are for girls and three are recycled hats. The templates are half size over five pages at the back of the book which need to be enlarged by 200 per cent. There are eight pages of photo-illustrated basic techniques at the beginning of the book on: 'Using patterns to cut out the fabric', 'Using iron-on interfacing', 'Assembling a brim', 'Attaching the crown to the middle section', 'Attaching the brim to the crown', 'Making and attaching the lining', 'Making a six-part crown', and 'Making and attaching a peak'. Gill says in her introduction to the book 'Sun hats have become a summer essential to keep the sun from children's delicate faces. However if, like me, you spend most of the summer nagging your children to put their hats on, then this book is for you. I found that if I let my children choose the shape and colour of the hat, they were much more likely to wear it.' I can say that this is definitely the case. I never had a hat made for me but I wore a cotton dress my mother made for me which was blue with colourful lollypops on to death, and was distraught when I grew out of it. It was a dress she never would have found in any shop and I loved the fabric so much.
