| This is a lovely gift for anyone who loves sewing or | | | | blanket stitch to sew the hat together. Curl the shaped |
| needlework. The base of the hat is like a book for | | | | piece around to follow the circle piece. You may find |
| storing needles and the top of the hat stores the | | | | that the two ends of the shaped piece overlap at the |
| all-important thimble, so you always know where it is. | | | | end. Trim the ends so that they meet nicely and over |
| This needle case is rather fiddle to make, so take your | | | | sew them together. |
| time. | | | | The top part of the hat now needs to be sewn to the |
| You will need... | | | | brim of the hat. The top part sits over the hole in the |
| Some pieces of felt, embroidery thread, and a print out | | | | hat brim. The blanket stitch will show on the inside here. |
| of the pattern pieces. Which can be printed out freely | | | | The two inner discs need to be sandwiched between |
| at the SantasPostbag website. | | | | the top part of the hat and the base of the hat. The |
| Cut out the pattern pieces from the printed out sheet. | | | | inner discs are slightly smaller and need to be placed |
| Place the pattern pieces on the felt and pin into place. | | | | off centre so that the edge touches the back of the |
| Put the pieces around the edge of the felt and close | | | | needle case; this will be the hinged area. |
| up next to each other because this saves fabric. Cut | | | | Attach the threat to the left-had side of the hinged |
| around the pattern pieces, there is no need to leave a | | | | area and blanket stitch 3cm through all four layers. |
| seam allowance, cut right up to the patter. | | | | After the hinged area, keep the thread attached to the |
| Each pattern piece says on it what part of the hat it is | | | | hat. Edge the brim of the hat with blanket stitch. |
| and how many you need to cut. | | | | Re-join the thread to the base of the hat at the |
| Use embroidery thread to sew your hat together. | | | | left-hand side of the hinged area and edge the base |
| Embroidery thread is usually made up of six strands. | | | | with blanket stitch. |
| Split the thread so that you only use three strands to | | | | Cut out some flower shapes in contrasting felt. Tack |
| sew with. | | | | the flowers to the hat with a couple of stitches, to |
| Get the two top hat pieces and prepare to sew the | | | | finish off the hat. |
| circle to the top edge of the shaped top hat piece. Use | | | | |