Hats for Vacation

I love hats, any hats basically - small, big, summer, winter, I am just so sad that hats are longer a standard accessory, as it was the case still in the 60s. In winter it keeps you warm and protects you hair; in summer it keeps my face in the shade and my scalp from getting burnt.

So when we decided to go on summer vacation to Peru, I read everywhere that the sun is actually very strong over there. Even though we went there during their "winter" season, it is important to note that the country is very close to equator and most of it is in high altitudes which means that the sun becomes even stronger. Which, for my Celtic skin meant: good sunscreen, glasses and hats are obligatory. But then, travelling with hats is not the simplest one, ideally, I would need fabric hats which I can fold in my little suitcase and take them whenever needed. Also, I wanted little bit of variety and it needs to go with rather autumn travel clothes, so sewing them would be the best option, as usual, lol.

Once I decided to sew them, I had to find the right pattern for my bucket hat. And while there are a few of them for kids, finding an adult bucket hat pattern was not so easy. I had found one at OliverS, but when trying to understand the paper pattern, the pieces did not fit right.
When I was getting desperate, I looked through the last Burda magazine (June 2019) and saw a pattern for exactly what I wanted. I traced the pattern out and sewed a quick muslin from a very stiff fabric and I got excited by the result. For my vacations buckets, I only had to shorten the brim slightly and extend the diameter (yes, I have a large head and this is probably the only measurement, I have to extend).

In the end, I sewed up two bucket hats in coordinating fabrics. I used a little scrap of the brown plain fabric and found a corresponding colored one in my local quit shop. The red/grey one was entirely from new fabrics. However, half-meter was largely sufficient, so no additions to my stash needed.

Verdict: the hats got worn almost everyday during our vacation and I was really happy to have them, I did not get burnt one single time and my hairdresser said my hair was not damaged at all when I came back.