A guide that takes Mama Linda hiking heard that I’ve gotten deep into hand sewing. When we recently met up, he asked if I had ever mended things. “Sure I have. What do you have in mind?” He proceeded to pull a well-loved hat out of his bag. It was given to him by his father a long time ago. It’s wool. It’s been repaired before and it’s unraveling again.
The guide asks “Do you think you could help it last a little longer?” Cue Mission Impossible music. Only, I thought it was possible and accepted the challenge. (And then promptly looked at Mama Linda to ask for some expert help!)
Side note – it would have been nice, in a way, to make the edge look new; however, it’s also important to make sure you know what your client is after. This client preferred the edges to have a more raw look, even after I mentioned that the wool edges would continue to unravel.
Step 1: Pull out old wool blanket stitching. The stitching was still intact in some areas around the hat’s edge, but completely missing or unraveling in others (especially at the neck/forehead).
Step 2: Machine sew around entire hat edge twice: one line of stitching 0.5″ from edge; second line less than 0.5″ from edge. Since this client wanted to keep the raw outer edge look, I decided to machine stitch around the entire edge of the hat – to help slow the fraying and to (hopefully) stop the entire outer hat textile from coming undone over time.
Step 3: Parallel whipstitch around entire hat with double-layered DMC pearl cotton thread (No. 5 size).
it’s getting real now 
a tool for even stitches 
cruising along
The client appreciate the work and was glad to have the hat back in time for a last winter weather hike of the season. I was pleased with the outcome and hope it lasts for years to come! The finished hat (shown on a cooperative model):
