Thursday, July 26, 2012

hats and hot animals and a queen


This post is about hats.  and the fair. Fair and then the hats. They are going together today. There are hot animals and a queen too.


  I took Bee, Lou, and the neighbor girls to the county fair.  We wanted to see Bee's 4H project and all the animals.  There was also partaking of an RC Cola, so it was a legit fair experience.   When Bee saw "The Queen," it was like she saw Justin Beiber... except she doesn't know who that is... but it was a pretty big deal.  The queen was happy to take a break from the llama barn to pose for a photo with some fans.


We saw Bee's project, which received a participant ribbon.  I was really trying to let her do it on her own.  She lacked motivation and this is the display she wanted.  Now we know what the other projects looked like and next year we will know better what to do.  She participated in the 'collections' category and showed her smashed pennies, which she has been collecting for awhile.


This table made me hungry and jealous. It's not a good combination. 


It was hot.  We're in the midwest where we've had drought and scorching heat this summer.  I have a lot of international readers (which excites my family- so hello from all of us!) so you may or may not know that it's been really hot over here for us.  It was over 100 degrees this day. Fahrenheit that is. Smart of us to go to the fair!  Anyway, the animals are in outside buildings and were keeping cool the best they could.  There were fans and misters brought in.  This chicken had his rear turned to a fan and seemed to be cooling off his rump. Feathers were ruffling in the breeze. 


 Onto the hats.  I found a free pattern for bucket hats through Oliver + S.   I made up Lou's blue one first as the test and it turned out pretty nice.  It's the kids size 6-8.  He's a young 5, but big headed.  It was a little snug on him and kind of babyish in print.  Then I made Bee's a touch bigger, just cutting the pattern about 1/4 inch bigger and it was perfect for her. She's a new 7, but also big headed  (2 c-sections over here- I'm just sayin').  I also lengthened the brim on all the hats by 3/4 inch.  I didn't have time to remake Lou's until the next day, but he wanted to wear the light blue one, so all was good.


I wish I would have had this hat pattern years ago.  I have them in hats all the time.  I like how easy the pattern is, it comes together in about an hour.  The second hat was done in about 45 minutes (plus hand sewing to finish it up).  It also used such little fabric, 1/3 yard I believe for the exterior and interior each.  It's totally reversible, which is fun.  It calls for interfacing, but I was out.  I just used a piece of thicker fabric in place and it turned out fine.


Bee kept saying, "Don't I look cute in this hat?" This is probably not something to be proud of, her bragging and all, but it made me happy that she like it.


Lou later selected some fire fabric, which we had on hand. I made this one even bigger than the pattern allowed.  I stretched it out (the 6-8 size) in most places 1/2 inch.  It fits him great.  In fact, it almost fits me.  I think if I keep stretching the pattern, I can get one for me and maybe one for hubby. 


It's hard to say what he's doing here.  I won't try to explain it. 

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