New Fur Hat

My stash includes a few yards of black/wine faux fur.  For a quick and easy project, I decided to create a hat that matched one of my favorite coats.  I love the drama that faux fur accessories and trims add to a garment.

Construction of the coat was discussed in the 1/13/14 post Wide Bands of Fur on a Winter Coat.  Below is a photo of the coat.

'Wide Bands of Fur on a Winter Coat' 1/13/14 post

While the coat has a hood, my reasoning for adding a hat is (1) a hat is warmer, and (2) I need to use the fur scraps to reduce my stash.  The interior of the hat shows how simple it is to construct this hat:

Grosgrain band covers raw seam allowance edges

Butterick 3055 is an old pattern in my stash.  None of the hats in the pattern were exactly what I wanted, but it is easy to modify them.

I used the Top from View L and the Crown from View E

The pattern pieces are a round top that sits on top of the head and a crown that wraps around the head and attaches to the top.  Cut one of each pattern piece from both fashion fabric and lining.  I did not interface the hat because the fur backing is quite firm.  Woolens and other fabrics would benefit from interfacing.  The lining is stretch silk charmeuse. 

Two pattern pieces: so simple to cut from fashion fabric and lining

As with garment sewing, I created a few hat muslins to get the look I wanted.  The photo below shows the original tissue for the crown and the modified crown pattern I made. The fold is placed at center front, and the angled seam is placed at center back.

The Crown was reshaped to curve around the head

My crown pattern is curved to fit an enlarged top piece.  If I didn't curve the crown, I would have sharply angled seam lines at center back which would not have fit the head properly.

I know many sewers have taken professional millinery classes so they can construct ornate hats.  My passion is garment sewing and while I would enjoy having fine millinery skills, I do not want to divert much time away from garment sewing.  Simple hats are a quick project for sewers of all levels.  This hat could easily be embellished with a feather or jeweled pin.