I’ve been going crazy trying to find the perfect simple summer hat. I just need something small and cute to shade my eyes when I’m walking around, and especially for walking at the beach. Preferably a nice, deep color, with texture to it. After looking for a while and finding nothing suitable I thought, “If I know exactly what I want, why don’t I just do it myself?”

And I did, and it was so fun and fulfilling! I was worried at first, not knowing what to do or where to start, but I just deconstructed the project into steps I needed to complete it and kept going. When I hit a snag, it was problem solving time! Best way to learn, I think.

I’ve never sewn anything other than patches before, never mind a complete piece by hand, and I am just tickled pink at how it came out. I didn’t even use a pattern, I just winged it, and made it up as I went along. Now I have exactly what I wanted, and it fits me perfectly. I’m still deciding whether or not I’ll jazz it up a bit with some decoration.

You know what’s really awesome? The hats I was looking to buy were in the $20 to $30 range. This hat? Cost me less than $4 in materials, including thread and interfacing. And? I love it to bits, and I’m totally proud of myself for overcoming my fear of failure and just forging ahead to create something wonderful.

That’s the best part.