Recycled Sweater Hats and Etsy shop

My brother BJ and Maddy
Wearing her hat...it looks much better in person!

And it definitely looks better when its NOT being displayed on the bottom of an empty juice pitcher! But Maddy is a tempermental model, so i did the best I could.


I know what you're thinking, haven't I had enough of that hideous black and silver sweater yet?! Well, no...there was still some left. Waste not want not and all. So I decided to give hatmaking another try, since the first one was a little rough.


I had already had the idea of making hats from sweaters before this tutorial from Disney at Ruffles and Stuff started making its rounds through the craft blogs. I do my hats a little different, so I'm not copying her exactly, but I just thought if you wanted to know how to make a hat like this you could give her tutorial a try.

I finished the black hat on Thanksgiving morning. Even the ribbon on it is recycled (more ribbon from the wrappings of our wedding presents). It is a little bit loose on Maddy, not too bad unless you pull it all the way down over her ears. I debated sewing some elastic in the band, but I decided it fit Maddy fine without it.


Kyle kept going on about how great it turned out and suggested that I try selling it online. I cant bear to part with this black one, mainly because this is the first hat that Maddy actually likes wearing. But I got to thinking about it, and decided to go with my mom and open an Etsy shop. She's been wanting to sell her hooded baby towels for ages but was overwhelmed by the tech-y part of Etsy, so I signed up and set up a Paypal and all that jazz. We've had her towels listed for a few days now, no one has bought them yet, but we'll see. They really are adorable.


So I went to Value Village on Black Friday (probably the only store that does NOT have any special sales on Black Friday) and found a whole bunch of sweaters. I think I got 8 for just over 20 dollars. I also went through my closet and dug out some cardigans that I kept hoping I could squeeze into again, but who am I kidding, it aint gonna happen!


Anyways, this fuschia hat below is the first one I'm going to list on Etsy. I just finished it this afternoon. I need to write up a description, but the kids arent letting me get to that right now.

I'm considering sewing a big black button in the middle of the bow
I think having the face really adds a little something extra...good thing the marker rubs off easily!

I took 20-30 shots of Maddy wearing this hat, and these are the only two decent ones. As you can see I need a better model, a better camera, and a good photography lesson.

There was a small problem that I didn't anticipate; Maddy suddenly decided she likes wearing hats, and this one in particular is now her favorite. She threw a real fit when I took it off and wouldnt give it back.

I guess if no one on Etsy likes my creations, at least I know my daughter will always look chic.

Here's the address for our shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftyCassidy

Check it out, even if you dont buy anything...it'll add to the number of views we get!