So. A moderately large piece of precious cashmere left from the coat, and a smaller but still too-expensive-to-waste piece of the astrakhan…a hat it shall be then.
I bought the Japanese hat book from someone on The Sewing Forum a few years back in a moment of madness, and although I’ve leafed through it several times, I haven’t gathered my nerve to try to follow the instructions, because, er, Japanese innit?
I’ve traced all the pattern pieces, and selected the three for my hat, and was JUST ABOUT to start cutting when I thought “now ‘ang on a mo, that brim looks too narrow for the hat I’ve chosen…”
And so it was. I stared hard at the instruction diagrams again, and realised that I needed to do some faffing with the brim and the side crown, adding in centimetres according to a tiny diagram.
The whole thing is covered with fluff from cutting the astrakhan lol
Sighing [you know I like to get straight to the cutting] I traced off a copy, added in the extra, redrew the curve free hand, and cut out top crown and side crown…then halfway through doing the brim, I realised it was meant to be on a fold… I had fortuitously placed it so that I was able to fold the fabric and keep cutting…then realised I’d messed up again.
The brim pattern as traced is HALF the brim, but I’d added the centimetres as though to the whole brim, then folded…oh poop totally weird shape and completely wrong. Luckily, enough fabric still left [hat pieces are small, even cut on the bias]
So I traced it AGAIN, on the fold of the paper this time, then drafted in the extra brim width, and cut it out in the cashmere, and in the astrakhan.
Decision #1
Should I have the astrakhan on the upper brim for bold contrast, or on the underside for a subtler look?
On the first pic I’ve pinned the bow/band trim that is included.
Decision #2
What to line it with? I don’t want excess static making me look like Wurzel Gummdige
The main hat is wool of course, so I presume silk would be playing with fire, as would acetate. I have some fine silk/cotton blend…would that be too static-y? Maybe I can find a bit of cotton sateen or similar in my scrap nest?
Anyone ever made one of these? I can’t find any reviews or blogs anywhere…what a trailblazer I must be!
thedementedfairy 
Hi, I think you’ve done brilliantly with Japanese instructions! I have a work colleague who is Japanese, do you want me to see if she can translate anything?
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I THINK I have it sussed. the diagrams are fairly clear, it’s things like ‘lining’ ‘interfacing’ and ‘petersham’ that were irking me…although clear the diagrams are also awfully small and it’s a pain to have to keep squinting through my magnifying thingy
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Mostly right. The word for crown is shown above where it says “M10.5” on the top right diagram (Side Crown, is what it says). I don’t see anything marked for a fold – looks like a single layer cut, unless I’m missing something.
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turns out that the pattern piece itself needs to be doubled before the single layer cutting, so ‘place to fold’ does the same job [I hate tracing lol]
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There’s an online crib for Japanese to English dressmaking terms. I’m away from home and don’t have the link, but maybe someone can chip in? I used it to translate pattern magic instructions, as my book predated the translated version. It did still involve some guesswork but helped.
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I would have hurled the whole thing into a corner and sulked by now. Well done for persisting. I was told that hair spray reduced static cling. Maybe that would help on any of your lining choices?
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well I normally wear hairspray so that might work for me!
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Anti static lining fabric (used for skirts and dresses) would likely be a good choice. It’s polyester but it does work. Good luck on finishing up the ensemble!
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This will be a perfect compliment to your coat. Love your Japanese dictionary, by the way. I don’t know if you are familiar with this blog, they have a list of sewing terms translated – http://www.japanesesewingbooks.com/japanese-sewing-terminology-a-list-of-translated-terms/
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excellent! Just what I needed!
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Boggle. They make a pattern piece and then you have to add a bit? I can understand it for things like very long trouser legs where they wouldn’t fit on the sheet and you’re just extending a line (Burda does that a lot) but for a hat?
Definitely have the fur on the top.
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lol as it stands I’m putting the fur under the brim [the missus insisted] and it’s nearly finished. It was a bit odd I must admit: the traced pattern piece for the brim is curved, then you extend it to a rectangle [so might as well have just drafted arectangle direct onto the fabric]. The brim is reshaped cleverly, so that it’s narrower at the nape, wide at the fornt, then [for some design reason I don’t get] slightly different depths at the side seams. Ah well, it’s looking good!
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Worzel Gummidge would certainly be a Look.
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not quite one I want
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