BSJ Hat is Done & Button Update

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Well, I like this hat better now that it's done. It's a birthday present for my brother so I hope he likes it too. I was pretty sure there would be plenty of winter left for him to wear it, but today it was 69 degrees! Considering it's only been a week since it was barely above zero for a high, that's quite an achievement. I'm sure the cold will return and in fact, there's a chance of snow tomorrow, so he will probably be able to wear it if he wants to.

It's quite asymmetric, and after trying it on, I really like it. I'm not sure that I want to make another one, although it's a very interesting pattern, and I used several techniques I've not done before, so it was also a learning experience.

Those of you who read the Sharing, Inspiration thread on Stitcher's Guild know that I've been whining gently about the buttons on my coat. I love the buttons, and I am really loving the coat as it's so comfortable to wear, even though it's fairly fitted for a coat. However, the buttons are determined to remain separate from the coat. The holes in the buttons are sharp enough that they were cutting through thread like butter. I had to resew at least one button every time I wore it. I tried different threads, more thread, a fabric strip through the holes (which are too small for a fabric tube) and nothing made any difference. I was thinking of looking for new buttons, but I found a spool of the old-style nylon mono-filament thread and tried that. It seems to be working! Hooray! I've wondered why I hung onto this spool, as it's more like fishing line than thread, but I was pretty sure if I threw it out I'd instantly need it. Thank goodness my inner pack-rat prevailed.

I'm working on a silk tank from the same Marfy pattern that I used for the twisted-binding tanks I made last summer. They were in knit fabric, but says in the catalog that the pattern is suitable for jersey or crepe. I always wondered about that, but a friend told me that crepe generally has about as much stretch as jersey and that the dual rating is not unusual. I'm not using crepe, but a crepe de chine which does not seem stretchy to me, so after trying the pattern on my dressform, I added 1" at the side seams and did a muslin first. This is just about right. I'm doing the binding, but not twisted binding. I had thought about it, but I think the plain is fine for this. It's some fabric that's left from a tweed Marfy suit that had lapels and cuffs of crepe de chine. I decided I wanted a simple top to wear under it, and had enough of the silk left to do this.