Because I am a sucker for a cute project . . .

So we were hanging out with my boyfriend's family, including his new baby niece, last thursday and mom happened to mention they were going to be at barbecues all weekend and she was worried about the sun on baby's head.  Grandma mentions offhand they should just use a bonnet, to which mom replies, "But we don't have one."  Ah ha moment in my head - I could totally make one!  Rest of evening is me planning said bonnet in my head until they leave and I can get started.

Step 1 - find a pattern or tutorial, preferably free.  No problem.  Gotta love Sew Mama Sew, because they had just what I needed here.  Perfect and so cute.

Step 2 - fabric?  Concerned about baby's skin, I chose some prewashed t-shirts I was looking to do something with anyway that would offer super soft fabric and it was white.  Baby is a girl, so no blue or grey allowed (which happened to be the only other two colors available, so white it was.)  Since t-shirt knit is unable to hold even the mildest structure, I also cut a piece out of a white curtain made of a cotton weave material for an inside lining.

Step 3 - construct.  This tutorial is really good so the construction was a breeze.  Only a few hiccups trying to get the knit to sew straight, but it worked out okay I think.  No bias tape, and no gumption to try and make my own (plus never done it before), but thank goodness I had bought a roll of lavender grosgrain ribbon for another project so I just cut a length and folded it over to take the place of the bias tape edging.  After reading through the steps I figured out what the purpose of the bias tape was so I could make improvise a replacement.  Same on the back.  Reading through the steps, it is a complicated way of saying sew a channel and thread something through to tie tightly.  Again no bias tape, but I had a length of narrow ribbon I could use instead so that worked out alright.  Hooray for improvising!

Step 4 - results.  Below are pictures of the finished product, one with the brim folded back and one with it forward.  No pics of the baby wearing it yet.  Hopefully I'll be able to add one later.  I think it came out cute, but it will depend on what Mommy thought so I'll have to get back to you.