October Pin Lover's Club Reveal & Little Black Hat Mini-Pinnie Tutorial

All the ghoulish fashion experts agree, every witch should have the perfect "little black hat" for a night on the town! Lucky for all of our pin loving witches, we have the perfect little black hat (pincushion) just in time for Halloween!

 

For October, members of our Pin Lover's Club will enjoy a bit of Happy Haunting! The new exclusive Happy Haunting Pin-Mini set includes a little something sweet (candy corn), a little something spooky (a ghost), and a little something lovely (a new club only floral embellished witch hat)!

Be sure to join the Pin Lover's Club by October 1st to guarantee that you receive the Happy Haunting Pin-Mini set. To join, click here: Pin Lover's Club. 

The coordinating Mini-Pinnie- Little Black Hat is a sweet mini pincushion version of the exclusive floral witch hat pin. You'll find the pattern download linked in the supply list below. This month we've also included a full step-by-step tutorial to make creating your Little Black Hat Mini-Pinnie extra easy.

Be warned though, there is a bit of magic hidden in this little black hat that just might leave you spellbound!

Little Black Hat Mini-Pinnie Supplies:

• Pattern: Download the Little Black Hat Mini-Pinnie
• Wool: Weeks Dye Works felted wool- 1115 Banana Popsicle, 2176HB Meadow Herringbone, 2226 Carrot, 2232 Orange Sherbet, 2233a Butternut, 2316 Iris, and 3900 Kohl
• Buttons: 10455.G Little Black Hat Button Pack (stars)
• Floss: Sulky 12 wt Cotton Petites- 1005 Black, 1239 Apricot, 4001Parchment
• Trim: Lady Dot Creates Rick Rack- Jack
• Interfacing: Lazy Girl Designs Stiff Stuff
• Filling: Wool Roving
• Other: freezer paper, fusible adhesive, floral wire, small dowel rod, needles, scissors, iron and ironing surface

Little Black Hat Mini- Pinnie Instructions:

Felted wool is reversible, so choose the side you will call the "right side" (outside of the pincushion). On the dull side of freezer paper, trace the pattern shapes. With the shiny side down, place the freezer paper on the wrong side of the wool. With your iron on a dry wool setting, press the paper to the wool. Give the paper a moment to cool, then cut out all the shapes along the solid traced lines.

Additionally, we've added a fusible adhesive (HeatnBond Lite) to a few pieces to give them extra structure. Adding the fusible adhesive is optional. It was added to one side of the following pattern pieces: hat band (all 3 pieces), hat brim, Stiff Stuff hat brim lining, and the hat bottom.

Assembling the Hat Crown

Place two hat crown pieces right sides together. Pin the pieces together along one long edge.

Sew 1/8" from the pinned edge along the straight edge.

After sewing, press the seam.

Place the remaining crown piece on the remaining side of the first, right sides together. Sew the two pieces together 1/8" from the pinned edge along the straight edge.

Press the assembled piece.

Turn the assembled piece right side up. Trim the dog ears off in line with the straight edges.

Pin the two remaining raw edges together. Sew along the straight edge 1/8" from the edge.

Press the new seam.

Turn the assembled piece right side out. Use a small dowel rod or similar tool to push the tip of the hat all the way out.

Bend a 7" piece of floral wire in half. Twist the wire to create a 3 1/2" stem.

Place the wire stem inside the hat crown so that the bent end of the wire sits in the tip of the hat crown.

Begin stuffing the hat crown with wool roving. Stuff around the wire stem keeping it in the center of the hat crown as much as possible. Use a small dowel rod to help pack the roving into the tip of the hat. Continue adding roving until the hat crown is firm. Stop filling when the roving is about 1/4" from the open end of the hat crown.

Use a double strand of floss or thread to add a running stitch around the open end of the hat crown. Place the running stitch about 1/4" from the open edge.

Place the cardboard circle inside the hat crown on top of the roving. If the wire stem is too long, bend the end over until the cardboard piece fits inside the hat crown. (Yes, we use packaging from the recycle bin!)

Slip your needle between the two strands of floss at the start of your running stitch.

Pull the floss tight until it gathers around the cardboard. Take a few stitches to secure the gathers.

Assembling the Hat Band

Place two hat band pieces together, right sides together. Hand or machine stitch the two pieces together along one of the short ends about 1/8" from the edge.

Sew the third hat band piece to the first two in the same manner.

Turn the hat band right side out. Use coordinating embroidery floss to add a blanket stitch along the top edge of the hat band.

Place the hat band on the hat crown. Slide the hat band so that the bottom of the hat band lines up with the bottom of the hat crown. Line up the seam lines of the hat band and hat crown.

Creating the Hat Brim

Sew rick rack trim around the inner opening of the hat brim.

Slip the hat brim over the hat crown. Place the brim so that it is almost to the bottom of the crown.

Turn the hat over. Sew around the hat brim with a simple whip stitch, stitching through the crown, hat band, and brim in one stitch. Your stitches into the hat brim can easily be hidden behind the rick rack.

Bend a piece of floral wire in a circle the same size as the circle cut from Stiff Stuff. Use a quick whip stitch to secure the wire to the outside edge of the Stiff Stuff circle. 

Place the hat bottom wrong side up. Center the Stiff Stuff circle on top the hat bottom. (If you added fusible adhesive like we did, the two pieces are placed fusible side up.)

Place the assembled hat on top of the hat bottom/Stiff Stuff stack, lining up the edges.

If you used fusible adhesive on the hat bottom, use an iron to fuse the assembled hat to the hat bottom. If you did not use fusible adheasive, pin the layers together.

Add a blanket stitch around the brim of the hat, sewing through all the layers about 1/8" from the edge.

Final Details

Arrange the flowers and leaves around the hat band. Pin them in place.

Secure each flower and leaf with a simple stitch in the center of each.

Add JABC star buttons to the center of each flower.

Using the wire in the crown of the hat and around the brim you can easily shape your Little Black Hat as desired. We love the tip of the crown bent over and a little curve added in the brim. The crown looks great pointed straight up too as if it is fresh off the millinery store shelves! That's the magic of this Mini-Pinnie, you can shape and re-shape the crown and the brim. So wickedly fun, right?

• Join the Pin Lover's Club
• Download the Little Black Hat Mini-Pinnie
• Purchase the Little Black Hat Button Pack (stars)