So I made a Pink Santa Hat...

I'm going to start by stating that I am not a great sewer.  (why does that word look so funny?) I have sewn about 13 sets of curtains and maybe a dozen square pillow covers, and two duvet covers.  Most of the time as long as I have to sew in a straight line, I'm ok.  I have also discovered that it helps if you buy fabric that is striped and all you have to do is STAY ON THE LINE.  Works awesome.

Anyway, it's the day before 5 family members are due to arrive in Atlanta from Buffalo to celebrate an early Christmas with my kiddos.  I'm chatting with my sister Cindy on-line and she asks if I have seen any Pink Santa hats - she saw a lady in the grocery store wearing a pink Santa Hat with Rhinestones and she NEEDS one for her Christmas Party Saturday night!

Now, I mentioned 5 people are coming to stay at my house, right? So three guest beds need to be made with fresh sheets, every bathroom (that would be 4) needs to be cleaned (I have a 4 yr old son if you know what I mean) and there are 3 floors of carpeting that needs to be vaccuumed, not to mention the dishes that need to be washed and all the other cleaning that needs to get done!

But...Cindy needs a hat! A pink hat! With Rhinestones! Why clean when I can make MORE mess? When you think about it, shouldn't I make the mess NOW, before I vaccuum? 

So I go to the craft store, buy pink suede with creamy fur lining, white fur for the trim, and a sparkly "C" to iron on the hat.

And I get home, and instead of cleaning, I make a hat.

 CINDY NEEDS A PINK SANTA HAT WITH RHINESTONES ON IT!

C'mon...I can't be the only casual sewer who's sewing basket looks like a bird nest!

Let me take a moment to point out...I don't believe in measuring.  Or using a pattern.  Hey, it's a couple of triangles? How hard can it be?

Hmmm....the first triangle and the first lpiece of fur trim are not quite the same size.  How did that happen?

Should I re-sew it?

But I can't see the thread...it's burried in fur! Ah hell that's why I bought extra fur! Make a new tringle and a new piece of fur trim. Why sew and cut once when you can do it twice?!?!

OK so three pink triangles and four piece of fur trim later....

hmmm....this is not QUITE the look I was going for.  The material is fur-lined and therefor stiff so now I have the Elf version of a Dunce cap.

So now I have to figure out how to make a fur ball for the end of the hat.  How hard can it be?

Fur explosion.

 Ok a little better! The weight of the fur ball (*hack*) has helped achieve the shape we are looking for!  And I'm pretty sure I got all of the pins out of the fur ball.  Pretty sure.

So now all we have to do is...vaccuum the table, the floor, my shirt, my pants, the dog who rolled in the exploded fur, the kitchen floor (I wasn't even IN the kitchen...how did the fur GET there?!), put away the sewing machine, the random pieces of mis-matched fur and hat that look like some kind of santa hat autopsy, find the needle I dropped on the carpet, wash the dishes, clean the bathrooms, (oh crap I just stepped on the needle in the carpet) wash the sheets, make the beds, and clean the windows.

But at least Cindy got her Santa Hat.