Last year I attended The Sewing Weekender organised by the Fold Line, and there was a free pattern with accompanying video sewalong to make a cute cap. It was designed by Charlotte Emma Patterns, and I had planned to make it at the time but other things got in the way – I had the kernel of an idea though and late in the summer I decided to make it using some scrap pieces of linen. Here’s how it went!
1. The fabric
So as mentioned, I had some scrap pieces of grey linen which was left over from when I made my Nolan Trousers. I thought the breathability would be perfect for keeping me cool in the hot summertime. The pattern really doesn’t need very much fabric which is great, and it’s made up of small pieces which works perfectly for scraps. For the seam finishes I decided to liven it up a bit and finish them with a colourful bias binding I’d made from scraps of a black cotton fabric with pretty yellow dragonflys on (it was the fabric I made my Closet Core Charlie Caftan dress from). So this was a very environmentally friendly cap made entirely out of scraps!
2. The pattern
Although the Sewing Weekender Cap pattern was provided for free alongside the event, I missed the window when it was free and ended up paying for the pattern. But it wasn’t very much and I was happy to support the designer. The cap pattern was a PDF print at home, but because the pieces are so small there was barely any sticking pieces together. I had to measure my head to figure out the size, and the pattern has a good range of sizes which I was pleased about (I am considering making my partner one and he has a big head!). I did the pattern almost as listed in the instructions but I decided to add in some hardware – I inserted some eyelets in the centre of each section to allow even more breathability, and I decided to use snap fastenings instead of Velcro for fastening it.
3. The challenges
The thing I found hardest about this pattern was the actual sewing, because once you’ve put a few of the seams together the cap starts to develop it’s curve and then it gets a bit fiddly sewing the final seams. I also made this even harder for myself because I decided to use additional bias binding to finish the inside seams, so that in addition to the top stitching meant that I sewed the seams numerous times! Unfortunately I think this flattened the curve out a bit because my final cap didn’t seem to have very much depth to it. Aside from that, I regretted deciding to use snap fasteners because the ones I used were quite bulky metallic ones and the band felt a bit too flimsy for them. Maybe some strong interfacing would have helped.
4. The final result
I had a lot of fun making this cap and I definitely recommend it for anyone who fancies doing a satisfying project to use up scraps. I really like the look of it and I’ve worn the cap a few times. My only issue is that it feels a little insecure on my head – I’m 99% sure that’s due to my execution of the pattern rather than a problem with the pattern, so I’ll just have to get more practise and make caps until I get it right!
The sewing resolution 