Designing Knitted Hats

I never really thought I would be able to design hats, I still feel like such a beginning knitter. I think that’s because I don’t knit sweaters or blankets or other super huge projects. I do knit a lot of hats though and I realized that I was always changing them up a bit to make them the way I wanted to make them, hmmm I guess that is sort of designing.

This all started because I love cupcakes and I wanted to knit little baby cupcake hats. There are plenty of cupcake hat patterns out there, but nothing like I wanted, the frosting just wasn’t quite right. I made a couple with cherries on top and they turned out cute, but the cherry was too nipple like for my satisfaction and it was just one more thing to sew on. I thought about a pompom, but nah and how many cupcakes have I really eaten with a cherry on top anyway! So I’ve been working on this:

It looks nice modeled on this jar and I’m getting close, but when I put it on a head: The frosting needs to be taller/rounder and this yarn wasn’t the best choice, the colors are great though. I also need to make that top tail a bit longer and tack it down in a curl shape. I might even want to add another layer to the icing frill.

I also saw a boy wearing a fleece raccoon hat and thought it would be a lot cuter knitted. It’s close too, just a little more tweaking and some eyes: I’m trying to decide if the ear-flaps are really what I want or if a striped and ribbed band around the bottom of a regular hat would be better and exactly what sort of eyes I’m going to make.

I like to share some of the process of what goes into a design, I would love to hear what you guys think of these two hats. I’m also trying to decide what to do with my pile of imperfect samples: throw them out, unravel them, give them away, sell them as one offs…what are your thoughts?

But It Was On Sale

Last weekend I found a Sizzix Sidekick die cutting machine on clearance for $9.00 and although I don’t really need a die cutting machine the deal was too good to pass up. (BTW mine is red, image from sizzix.com).

I also got some flower dies (?) to cut with and decided to really put this little machine to the test. For my first project I cut aluminum can into cute little flowers. Soda cans are easy to cut with regular scissors and I just cut them into small squares and ran them through the Sidekick!It cut them beautifully and even bevels the edges so they aren’t razor sharp anymore. I snipped the petals a little and bent them forward to make these more dimensional. I think I might try embossing the next one.The dies seem fine, I cut paper and card stock after and they still worked great, now I just need some more shapes I have so many ideas. We’re going to have to start drinking more colorful soda!

Have a super crafty weekend!

Pop Tab Purse Prototype

I wanted to share some of the processes that I use when working on a new design.  I think a lot of times we forget how much time and effort go into producing a new product and I wanted to show a little of how my mind works. 

I have been assembling the pop tabs for this bag for three days (pop tab crochet is a little hard on my hands, so there are a lot of breaks ;) and there have been snow days from school and that means less design time).  I will probably take the rest of the week to get the linings installed and the zipper put in. 

Once I finish a prototype I reassess how I put the bag together and see if I can find a more efficient way to assemble it and if there are any constructions steps that need to be changed.

Here is what the outside of the purse looks like and now I will begin working on sizing the linings.  I really like how it is turning out so far.

This one is a clutch style, I might add a removable strap to the final design.  I used 240 tabs and nylon thread.  The tabs are crocheted into rows and then the rows are slip stitched together.  I already know that I need to find a better way to connect the rows together to reduce the amount of ends that I have to finish.  I attached eleven rows and then crocheted a border around the edge.  Strips of tabs were attached to the ends to finish the outside.  Turning the final bag was difficult and I need to make sure that I don’t bend any of the tabs (see top photo, right side.  I was able to bend it back, but I need to be careful).

I will be putting in a double lining.  There are gaps in the tabs for fabric to show through, so I’m using plain red for the interlining to peek through these holes.  I will be using a floral with black and red for the lining you’ll see when the bag is opened.  I am also thinking that a heavy duty zipper with silver teeth and black tape would look really good, instead of just a regular black zipper.

I am going for a couture styled bag, not a crafty/folksy look and will achieve this look by using quality fabrics for the lining, super clean finishes on all seams and edges, and unique details like a custom zipper pull.  I will be testing this bag myself and once that is finished I will tally up how many hours it takes to produce one, cost of supplies, and research similar bags and formulate a price and maybe with luck I will have one listed in my etsy store in a month, whew, makes sewing from a pattern sound simple. 

I am always super excited to finish a new design and try it out and this one is no exception.  My last pop tab bag was a one of a kind and never made it to “production”, it just wasn’t quite right, this time I think I have it. 

What do you guys think, any suggestions?  Look for the finished bag next week.