Paper Hat: The Tutorialinginginging...

Goodness. We're going to end the run of hat-based tutorials and postings soon, I promise. It's probably something to do with the change in the weather! As the evenings draw in and the wind gets... erm... windier... there's nothing better than curling up and making some outerwear!

Anyway. As promised, here's a guide to making your very own paper hat, Makies for the wearing of. This is adapted from a classic paper hat fold you can do with a £5 note, either for leaving as a pretty tip or for annoying bus drivers. Hahaha.

Smart, eh?

You will need:

• Fabric measuring 12.5cm by 20.5cm (roughly 5" by 8 1/4")
• Iron and ironing board
• Needle and thread
• Fray check
• Scissors

Depending on the wibblyness of your fabric (technical term), you might need to interface it for added stiffness (fnaar). I would advise that you fold up a test hat and see what your fabric is going to do; although feeling flimsy when flat, the quilting cotton I used is surprisingly sturdy once folded and interfacing is really not needed.

Okay! Let's get folding. First thing, a warning:

You will be using a iron to crease all of your folds. Although you could use the heat only, you will most likely need steam to set the creases. The steam shoots out in all directions. 

You are very, very likely to get burnt fingers if you're not paying attention to what you are doing! 

Do not attempt to make these hats with small children, pets or wayward Makies distracting you! 

Crystal? Right. Read through all the steps, then have a go. If you're not clear on how the folding works, try it with a piece of paper before you move on to the fabric.

First, lay your fabric face down on the ironing board. Fold over 0.5cm ish at each end. This gives you a nice finish on the bottom opening of the hat.

Flat, flat, flat. Fold ends and iron.

Fold the fabric in half, pattern out. Iron the fold. Lay folded fabric on your ironing board, opening towards you.

Opening at the bottom, or you'll not get into your hat. 

Fold in the corners and iron flat.

Find the middle first!

Bring the open edges of the fabric up over the triangle. Iron. It's easier to do one side, then flip the hat over and do the other.

Opening still towards you, yes! 

Fold the nice finished edge down to make the outside bottom of the hat. Iron. This is where you're most likely to burn yourself.

Basically fold the flat bit in half, so's there's a nice finish. Flatten with the iron. 

Congratulate yourself on having some fingers left. Switch off the iron, breathe a sigh of relief.
To finish the hat, you need to do a few little sewing stitches at the red dots. I just overcast a couple of times and make sure it's secure. For a smart finish, trim the edges marked by the arrows and apply a little fray check to stop... well. Fraying.

Stitch through all layers at the dots to hold the hat together. Trim and fray-check at the arrows.

Hats don't have to be just one size! As long as you keep the proportions, you can make any size you like. The tiny hats started off about 7cm wide and have got a hairgrip stitched into the bottom to keep them in place. They could do with a little wire in the brim to hold them open... time to experiment!

"Little haaaaaaaaatses!" "Hey! Plink! Play nice!"

Makie Me a SUNNY SUN DRESS!

Aaah, the birds are singing, the sky has shed its usual sort-of-greyish colour for a gloriously glowing blue, and humans and Makies alike are out enjoying toasting their bones and, of course, looking faaaabulous at the same time!

Prof Plink prepares to leave the library and head into the great outdoors.

This tutorial will help you create a stunning sun dress with multiple possible customisable variations. It's so ridiculously simple that you can stitch one up by hand in half an hour... and probably in less than 5 minutes by sewing machine. But who wants to be inside with a sewing machine today, I ask you?!

I used some cotton scraps for this version but just about any fabric you've got lying around will be fine. If you're one of these people that doesn't have fabric lying around (weirdo), you can pick up 'fat quarters' of all sorts of fabric online. These are the perfect size for creating Makie clothing and are generally very economical; prices range from 50p to £4 ish. Quilting cotton is excellent for beginners. It's easy to sew, cheap and comes in all sorts of exciting prints.

Here's most of the things you'll definitely need, and some things you really, really won't:

The cake. OH, THE CAKE

Essential supplies:

• Fabric. 
• Thread in a matching (or contrasting!) colour. 
• Needle, either hand or attached to a sewing machine. 
• Pins
• 1/4 inch wide elastic, about a 6 inch length (not shown cause I'm a muppet)
• Ribbon

Optional but highly recommended supplies:

• Penny Arcade D&D podcasts (for bringing the Jim Darkmagic Magic)
• Earphones so's not to upset the neighbours with the above.
• Glasses which are the correct prescription instead of  your six year old sunglasses which are not, therefore you cannot see out of them properly, isn't it time you got some new ones, you plonker. 
• Graze.com "High Tea" series carrot cake and complimentary teabag. 
• A napkin to cover your horrible garden furniture, which was in the shed when you bought the house (the weather hasn't been nice enough this summer to consider replacing it!

OKAY! 

First, cut your fabric into a 16cm by 16cm square. I find it easier to make a paper template to cut around, although you might like to draw straight on the fabric with some tailor's chalk. 

Square cut, oh yeah. 

Making sure that your fabric is the right way up (so your birdies aren't flying in a funny direction), fold over 1.5cm at the top edge and pin. Sew close to the free edge to create a little tube at the top of the fabric; this forms your elastic casing and the top of the dress. Remember that your stitches will show on the outside here, so make 'em neat as you can!

Make sure the birdies are flying the right way up on the main dress!

Next, fold in half, right sides together. The open edge will be the back of the finished dress. Sew along the back seam, stopping just below the elastic casing. 

Fold in half to make the back seam. S
top sewing just below the elastic casing (facing towards us in this picture), leaving the tube open.

Turn up the bottom of the dress and stitch a neat hem. If you're feeling particularly lazy, you could glue this with some fray-stop. (If you're machine-sewing, you might find it easier to hem before stitching the back seam because of the small diameter tube.) 

Instructions say a NEAT hem, Dr Duckie... 

Turn the dress the right way around. Feed your piece of elastic through the top casing. It may be helpful to put a safety pin on the end of the elastic to give you something to pull through. 

Elastic threaded. Long tails make for easy tying. See what I mean about the stitching showing?

With both elastic ends sticking out of the dress, slide it on to your Makie and tie it above the bust so's it's nice and snug. Snip off the excess. The dress gathers at the back and your join will be nearly invisible, yaay! 

Make sure you've got enough stretch in the elastic to get the dress on and off!
Snip off the loose ends close to the knot.

Nearly there! No woman likes looking like a sack of potatoes, so add a ribbon belt for some waist definition. You can simply tie this on, or add snaps and elastic. I've just stitched mine at the back.

Belt, check. Sunshine, check. Looking fabulous, CHECK!

And there you have it! Celebrate and bask in the sunshine!

The best thing about this dress is that it gives you a great base for some customisation and versatility. Try altering the skirt length; cut your fabric as a 16cm by 20cm rectangle for a maxi dress, or you could go to 12-14cm (depending how daring your Makie is!) for a miniskirted version. Play around with different fabrics, different waist ties and contrasting coloured stitching... or if you're really brave, why not try some embroidery?

Tomorrow, I'll show you a couple of neckline variations that'll be great for adding a bit of individual style, so don't throw away the rest of that ribbon!

Goodness Gracious Gingham!

After making the trousers, I found that I had more than enough fabric left over from the 83p fat quarter I purchased to create some couture for the Plink. I decided that we'd go a little vintage this time with a prom-style dress and headband.

Not hemmed? Whatever do you mean... *whistles innocently*

The bodice started as two rectangles. After sewing the top and back edges together and turning, they were pinned around Plink's torso and the darting and waist shaping completed. This gives a figure-fitted finish. The skirt was then pleated onto the bodice to give the fullness in the skirt. I did try a gathered skirt first, but it ended up looking wonk-tastic.

Plink, you could at least look interested?

The belt is a length of satin bias tape, which fastens at the back with a popper, and the hairband is a length of the same tape with some flat elastic stitched on. It has a habit of pulling her wig off.

The whole thing is, of course, finished with bright red tiny buttons for contrast.

Alright. Gaze into middle-distance again. And mind how much boob you're flashing. 

Altogether, I'm pretty pleased with it!

Incidentally, this was entirely hand sewn in front of the Usual Suspects, of which the last 3 minutes is my favourite bit-of-a-film EVER.

Chef Plink

When I volunteered to make Benoonbenoon's chef outfit, it was quite obvious that I was never going to get away without letting Plink try it on...

No, she didn't make this. She's just posing, as usual. 

So. The tunic is just my standard blouse pattern, with the left front extended and an extra cm on the length all the way around. Although I managed to construct most of the body on the (borrowed) sewing machine without jamming it this time, the collar and sleeves were set on by hand, as was the velcro. Really annoyed I couldn't find my stash of white velcro, but buggered if I was going to go and buy any more. Although currently covering Plink's... *ahem*... you knows... I think this should fit nicely on a boy Makie just as well.

The trousers are the first pair I've ever made for human or Makie. I could do with adding another cm onto the crotch-to-waist as these are rather hipsters, although I guess it doesn't matter if they're worn with a tunic... wouldn't go wearing them with a t-shirt unless you're partial to builder's bum.

The hat is rather a triumph, I think. Large enough to be ridiculous, but not too big to be completely insane. This was entirely hand-sewn and I'm a bit chuffed with it. Bandanna fastens behind with a popper, it was going to be red but I've got absolutely no red fabric. This is a bit of a surprise. Still, I think the check works quite well.

Prettier than Gordon Ramsay? 

Benoonbenoon, let me know your address and I'll get your outfit off of Plink the impostor and in the post! ...and if you're reading this, Polk, can you email me too? Ta!