(This is an older, not previously published, review, but I keep thinking about Cennetta’s hats, on The Mahogony Stylist, so I’m following her inspiration!)
The illustration in Vogue’s catalogue, and on the pattern envelope, made this hat look more like a cartoon than something to wear. 
Fortunately, Vogue put a photograph of it on the cover of its late summer catalogue, and wow! it’s dramatic! I tried to talk myself into buying a different pattern (this thing lists at $22.50 — oh, please!), but this was definitely the right pattern. Eventually it went on sale.
Rather than a sun hat, I wanted something a little more all-purpose that would be light, dry fast, and work for fair weather or foul. And I wanted it to be a dramatic hat — all the utility, but style, too. The sage tencel I’d been hoarding for a while seemed worth a try, so I decided to use it. I saw a hat on the internet that I loved, with a wonderful scarf draped over the crown, so I incorporated a scarf into my hat as well. (Mine is 15 inches by 55 inches.)
The major construction challenge was due to the floppiness of the fabric. This hat has a large brim, and it needs support. I knew horsehair interfacing would probably do the job, but that wasn’t practical, since I wanted to be able to wash and dry the hat fast. At my local JoAnn’s I found something called “Form Flex” which is a woven, fusible interfacing. Experimenting with small pieces suggested that four layers might do the trick.
Vogue calls for 36 inch wide interfacing (good luck, if you’re shopping at JoAnn’s), but once I had altered the brim (see below), I was able to cut the interfacing from the 22 inch wide Form Flex. I cut two extra pieces, trimmed the seam allowances, and fused them to the interfacing I’d already fused to the hat brim pieces, then proceeded as usual. This was a great solution — the brim has structural integrity, but the hat is still very comfortable to wear.
Here’s a task to make the most obsessive of us happy! I loved the quilting! Vogue calls for wider channels, but I much prefer this look, and it let me cheat by using the machine foot as a guide — a nice, precise way to work. I was also able to continue quilting all the way up to the crown, following its shape, which I think looks very nice.
The scarf loops are a little less than one-half inch in width, and there are a total of five: two on each side of the crown, centered in the middle of each crown side piece, and a fifth loop at the center back. I pull the scarf through this center back loop to avoid the bulk of tying it.
I made several changes to the pattern. First, I lined the crown with mesh, so that it would be more comfortable in hot weather. Mesh is hard to find in my neck of the woods, so I bought a remaindered boy’s athletic jersey at a discount store, which gave me more than enough mesh to do the job. Secondly, I took the advice of “drsue” on patternreview.com, and reduced the size of the brim by 2 inches all around to make it a more reasonable size for everyday use. Third, I added loops to the crown to hold the scarf in place. Fourth, I added a chin string and toggle, so that I could anchor the hat in high wind.
Adding the crown to the brim may always be a bit of a challenge, since the quilting may change the size of the brim. I found myself wishing that Vogue had added markings to show where each crown section should meet the brim. However, in spite of my four layers of interfacing, and the fact that I chose to place my stitching lines one-fourth of an inch apart instead of one-half inch, my brim fit more or less well, and I was able to fit the crown using a minimum of persuasion.
The instructions are sparse, as tends to be the case with Vogue, but common sense, and a little sewing experience, will generally see you through. Why are Vogue patterns worth the cost and effort? Style and dash, of course, but this hat has two other features I couldn’t find anywhere else: the cut-out for your head is oval just like — yes — your own head! And the brim’s shape echoes that oval. Fits like a dream, and is blissfully comfortable to wear!
(2005)