I started the hat this morning – should have it all finished today.    Check it out. 

I’m really proud of this hat.  If you want to see more pics – check out my gallery.  I’ve posted a bunch – including close ups so you can see the detail work.  This was made as a special request for my good friend Ormsbee, but I hope that I’ll get to make some more of these because it’s just such an awesome idea!

This is probably one of the most complicated hats I’ve made.  I hadn’t ever worked with nylon webbing and parachute buckles before so I did a lot of practice first to get my technique down.  The buckles really make this hat.  Funny – they are also the most expensive material I’ve ever used on one of my hats.  I’m definitely going to have to try and find a way to buy these in bulk to see if it will reduce the cost (they are $3.39/each at Hobby Lobby).

I was most nervous about the look of the gas canisters – I really wanted them to look authentic.  Adding the detail on the bottom of them did it and then I used plastic canvas mesh and built a ring to hold the nice cylinder shape.  Sewing these into the mask itself is time consuming and involved a lot of pins.  I finished the edges with my serger to ensure it had a nice clean look. 

I’m happy with the look of the ski mask, but still think I could use more material on the bottom so that it offers more protection to the neck area.  I would love to get photos of this hat on the slopes.

So I tested out my new photo studio gear that I got on ThinkGeek.com and I either really suck and need more practice or I’m just not really happy with the results.  The photo studio isn’t bad per se, but does have it’s drawbacks.  The photos above of the mohawk , viking, and green monster were taken with the new equipment including the lights.  The cthulu and a few of the green monster pics were taken with the same light box, but I tried using my existing lights that I had been using with my previous lightbox.  I can’t say I’m pleased with the amount of shadows that still appear in the background.  So kind of a bummer – BUT – I’m excited that I got 4 hats done – 2 of which were on my to do list.  The other two were ones I’d cut out long ago and just hadn’t gotten around to sewing yet.  I’ve actually exhausted all of my pre-cut hats.  Soooo – I’ll be doing a lot of cutting of fabric for hats now.

A good friend of mine bought a hat for this lovely girl, Annie, who does remarkable things with rabbits!  I love that the hat I made matches one of her precious rabbits!  Eeeka (my rabbit) is so proud!

Annie in her Bunny Hat with Rabbit to match!

Love this site!

I’m here – and I’ve been sewing a lot lately, though only recently with a renewed focus on my hats.  I’ve been sewing solar panel covers for another friend of mine as a side job.  This has provided a nice little break from the intricacies of my hats, but it has also let me realize that I love the creativity involved with putting a hat together.  I’m in the process of building up stock for the colder weather and having fun with trying out some new hat designs that I’ve had on my list of ones to try.

This week I finished 4 hats (2 polar bears and 2 snow tigers).  Last week I finished the Yoda hat – HURRAY!  This hat seems relatively simply, but if you don’t get the ears just right – well then it looks like a slightly sick elf.  LOL.  Anyway – I got the pattern finally and am really happy with the results.  My friend that ordered the hat has already told me that he will be Yoda this year for Halloween.  Can’t wait to see it!  I’m actually contemplating making a few more Princess Sticky Buns Leia hats and dressing up as Leia myself.  Don’t know just yet – I have too many ideas on this topic right now.

The remainder of this week I plan on finishing another two cthulu hats (one that I started like 5 months ago and ran out of fabric that is orange and yellow) and another that is more to the liking of H.P. Lovecraft fans who insist that cthulu is dark green / blue.    I’m also going to try to do a furry kitty in an olive green and red fur with ear flaps.  It will be the first of it’s kind so we’ll see how that goes.  Never done the ear flaps before, but I think they will give a nice variation. 

Let’s see what else is on my list of to dos -

1.  Black hat with flaming red mowhawk for my friend Mike.

2.  Penguin hat for my friend Robert who has a huge melon and the first attempt ended up a little too small.  Robert kindly purchased my very first hat when I first opened my store – so I’m making him another hat that will hopefully keep his ears warm when the temperatures go down again

3.  Minnesota Vikings hat for my friend Lenora.  Sorry Lenora – I’ve been a slacker

4.  Raccoon hat – because I think this one would be really cute and fun.

5.  My Neighbor Totoro – I just saw this movie for the first time and am truly in love with Totoro!

6.  Jack Skellington – I don’t think I need to explain this one.

7. Vampire bat – I imagine this one with wings

8.  Panda Bear – LOL Maria suggested that I do a Sexual Harrassment Panda from South Park.

9.  Castle Crashers – Polar Bear Boss

10.  Sesame Street Count (another suggestion from Maria – I love it!)

Got any ideas?  Email or text me – and I’ll add them.

• Ladybugs
• Porkchopp Piggy
• Pomeranian
• Monkee
• Domo-kun

I’ve also had a couple of new designs sell right away and you can see them in my Gallery (hey did you notice that you can’t add photos to a cart anymore – thank you my lovely llama  

I’m heading up to Denver this weekend so won’t be getting any sewing done this weekend.  Will be back on Monday evening so I expect to get started again on Tuesday.  Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! <3 Heidi

I’m a project manager for a major legal software company by day and a secret crafting goddess by night and weekends (shhhh… this might just be the way I finally walk away from my day job). I really do enjoy my day job – it is one in which I can allow my OCD to take complete control and work for me.  Another way is through my crafts, in which I strive to create the best and highest quality product.

I love to make people smile and believe that a sense of humor is one of the best attributes one can have. Laughter is contagious so why not create it!  I’m pretty sure you would be hard pressed not to get a smile while wearing one of my hats. 

I enjoy all things geeky and love to learn about EVERYTHING.  Animals of all kinds (children, cats, chinchillas, fish, blue lobsters, rats, babbits… errr bunny rabbits, and boyfriend) are my chosen family and share my home with me.   

I love to knit, crochet, cross-stitch, embroider, sew, use a glue gun and/or Dremel tool (though it’s hard to do at the same time), make silly costumes, brew beer, grow mushrooms, go road biking, make glass beads, and collect hobbies.

Last night I got 4 hats done though – which made me feel really good.  Got two hats that need to be finished for this weekend – so I’m busy sewing again tonight.  I’ve added 2 hats to Etsy for sale – they are cute lop eared bunnies in white and black.  Also updated the Gallery some more to get pics in a better order for viewing.

I’m off to sew!