A Red Tam!

During construction, the segments at the front of the hat got bisected, which looks quite neat from above.

As my sister has expressed the wish to wear more hats, and I am happy to oblige her, I sat down recently with some curtain remnants.  I decided to make a tam, though she fretted that it would be too "fussy".  The pattern was easy: 

1. Decide how many panels or segment you want (I decided on six)
2. Measure head circumference at the place you want the hat to sit (22.5").
3. Divide head circumference by number of panels (22.5" / 6) and that gives you the size of the bottom of each panel (3.75")
4. Draw a shape like the dome of the Taj Mahal, with the base being the above calculated length.  
5. Make a long rectangle (about 24") for the band.

It was a quick project.  I cut the segments on the bias and the band on the straight, mainly so I could see the contrast.  I used the sewing machine for most of it, all of an evening, and hand-finished the band the next morning.  

The most fun came when I had my sister try on the hat during its construction.  At first, the curves of the Taj Mahal shape were too sharp, and she dubbed it the hat a "starfish" and said she'd never wear it!  So I shaved off the edges--twice--until she liked the curves.  But then she thought it was still too floppy and required too much adjusting, so I bisected some of the segments with faux seams, and this met with her approval.  (By "faux seams" I mean that I simply folded the segment down and sewed a teeny pin tuck on the inside: barely any width is lost, but from the outside it looks like two skinny segments instead of one big one.)  But then she decided she like it only half halved... if that makes sense.  She likes the bisected panels on the front of the hat, for shape and detail, and not on the back of the hat.  The pic at the top of this post shows the difference between front and back with a top view.  

To protect seam allowances from fraying with wear, I lined the hat with a bit of green cotton broadcloth from an old nightgown of mine.  Here are some completed hat pictures, with comments.  

The front of the hat, with segments bisected, giving the illusion of more. See how the extra seams make the hat stand up more?

The back of the hat, with the original, larger segments. I put the seam of the band at center back so she'd always know how to put it on.

These are the two fabrics used in the hat. This picture is actually of a quilt square I made from the scraps.

The hat inside out. The green fabric is tacked to the crown at the top and gathered into the band at bottom. The white stripe is the selvedge of the band fabric.

FINISHED HAT A HIT!