Buckets of fun

A while ago, Oliver + S released a free pdf version of their their bucket hat pattern (you can get it here).  I downloaded the pattern straight away but hadn't gotten around to making it.  Anyway, with the days getting sunnier, and last summer's hats getting a bit snug on the girls, I decided to make a couple of new hats for them.

The pattern comes together super quickly - I think it took me about an hour to make both, after I was finished cutting.  I found it a bit tricky sewing the top and side pieces together - you've really got to snip into the side pieces a fair bit to get it to fit the curve - but other than that it is a pretty simple process to put it all together.  I also used this "cheat" (from a little grey) to avoid the hand stitching!

I added extra topstitching to the seams, because I like the look of it and because my girls are pretty rough on their clothing.  Don't let their sweet faces fool you!  

This hat is great for scrap busting.  I used "leftovers" for both hats, which is great because it means there is less scraps in my scrap basket and they now have nice hats to coordinate with existing outfits.

Ellie scored a yellow/green hat.

Katherine scored the pink version - of course.

I probably should have used red thread for the topstitching (and in the bobbin when doing the brim) on this one but I was lazy.  I don't think it looks too bad with the contrasting topstitching though.  I thought I would be a bit decorative and only do a few rows on the very outermost edge of the brim, but I might still go back and add some more rows of stitching in.  I haven't decided yet.