I heart pattern testing: Heidi &Finn Downtown Hat

 

I LOVE to test patterns. It's fun to get a preview of a pattern before its released, it's fun to be an insider for talented designers and, lets face it, it's fun to get a free pattern :) It can also be a bit stressful. There's a deadline to sew to, there's internal pressure to do your best sewing and get great photos. 

I had been stalking checking the Heidi and Finn FB page after she indicated there would be a pattern for testing coming soon. Then I saw the call had gone out when I was at work and I was a looong way down the list of hopefuls. Lucky for me I was still selected to test the 12m-2T size of the Downtown Hat. Then to make my day even better my hubby agreed that I should use the discount voucher I had for spotlight and pick up some new fabric. Pattern testing and fabric shopping... was it my birthday? 

I got this lovely dark blue fleecy knit and set to work making my first hat. There are only two pattern pieces and my printer has been misbehaving so I decided to trace it off the screen. I cut it out in a few minutes while hubby was making the kids lunch (ie. before the table was all messy from lunch). It was really quick to sew, I made it mostly with my overlocker, just used my sewing machine for the topstitching. The Pattern is very clear and easy to folllow and the finished product looks just like the pictures. The sizing seems spot on. So far I have only made two of the sizes and they fit as expected.

Then the fun bit, designing the look for the photos. I decided to make a little faux wrap jumper to match the flower I had used to embellish the hat. I used the ballet sweater pattern and modified it to make it a full length pull-over jumper. It was really quick to make and I was patting myself on the back for such an easy pattern modification. Then I tried it on Eloise... Unfortunately there is a lot less stretch in the fleecy fabric I used than the jersey knit I'd used previously to make the ballet sweater. Getting it on her was a challenge, which required a bit of toddler origami [please note, no Eloise's were harmed in the making of this outfit ;)]. So, although I love the look of it, it will not be a regular part of her wardrobe. I will make another one like it in a fabric with more stretch, or make the same again in a size bigger. 

 

A bit tricky to get photos of my little miss with anything on her head. She would only leave it on for a minute at a time. Here are the shots we managed to get. Unfortunately she woke up with a runny nose this morning so there were a lot of breaks (and tissues).

 

Here is the pink one I made.

 

I love this photo [below], it's a few seconds before she fell over. She was a bit wobbly the whole time (I think from wearing shoes in the sand) and had lots of little tumbles. She thought it was great fun!

I definitiey recomend this pattern. Its good quality, fast to make and suits any skill level.


I'd love to hear what you think of it :)

Kerry xx



PS: We will be guest blogging on Rock The Stitch for her "Inspired by Chevrons" series, stay tuned!