David started off in classes by diving off the deep end with a pair of two-way stretch pants to teach yoga in.  For his second project, he wanted to start working with hats.  As millinery is close to our hearts and sartorial personal history, we gladly agreed and dove in.

He brought in Green Pepper pattern F724: City Streets Billed Beret.  This pattern can be worked up in a 6-panel beret with or without a bill.  The way it is made is a little softer than a comparable newsboy cap and much softer than a greek fisherman’s hat.

The pattern instructions are really solid – Green Pepper is good about this.  They give you just the right amount of detail to get a solid end result without overwhelming you.

 

The sizing was spot-on.  He fit the large size with a 22.5″ head measurement, and after the panels were sewn and blocked…

This is a great pattern if you want a pieced cap that has a little structure without going too crazy the first time you make a hat or cap.  It could conceivably be made in anything heavier than a suit weight wool, but works especially well with coat weight wools and blends.  If you are going to try it with leather or synthetic hides, practice first on a couple of the pieces – the joins have to be right and the stitching is easy to mess up on hides.

The pattern calls for a covered button made in a particularly old-fashioned way. This is fine for the average intermediate sewer, but if you are tackling this as a new sewer, you may want to just go with a kit form the fabric store – especially if your fabric is a looser weave that is going to be hard to do small detailed stitches in.

You can find it here.

It has not been reviewed on Pattern Review.