I like doodling and crafting as stress relievers. Aside from getting a chance to do something good with my hands instead of typing long dramatic blog entries, I end up with something positive.

So this mini top hat is one of them stress relievers. One of my co-workers wanted to borrow a headdress from me but I thought that a mini top hat suits her outfit. I offered to make her one and I am not even sure if she thought I was serious about it. (lol) Anyway, I was glad I did offer to make her one and because sewing up one will take too long and I didn’t have my sewing kit with me, I decided to get some scrapbooking stuff and other supplies from the nearby bookstore.

How did I make this hat?

1. I drew 3 circles on the black cartolina. 2 big ones and a small one. The 2 big ones are for the brim and the other is for the top part of the hat. I also cut a 2.5 in high rectangle. This is the main body of the hat.
2. I cut all these pieces. I also cut several strips of cartolina. I used those other strips to make connecting pieces from the body to the top and from the body to the rim of the hat.
3. Putting them together wasn’t too hard. I made a cylinder from the rectangle. Big enough to go around the smaller circle. I glued together the top part with 4 small strips of cartolina then glued them to the body of the hat. I used 3 big strips to connect to the body of the hat to one of the bigger circles.
4. I decorated the hat with the ribbons and flowers.
5. On the other bigger circle, I made some slits where the long black ribbon passed through. The slits are in the center. I attached that other circle to the main hat.

It was quick and easy! Especially because I used Mighty Bond. (lol) That was really fun. I feel like pushing through with my beret project. And the newsie too.

Chu is imperfect but I find it cute. Also, I didn’t name it. My friend did. I made it for Kel last week. He wanted a dove plushie but I couldn’t find a pattern so I ended up with a fat little sparrow pattern which I made with white felt and tetoron. Thanks to the Paper Shed’s Etsy shop, I got a pattern for one that should be small enough to be placed on top of my LCD at work. However, Kel needed something bigger so I had to make a bigger pattern based on the one I got from Etsy.

Making Chu by hand wasn’t easy. I only had the felt my sister got. It was too stiff. Sewing it was tough and I didn’t have a thimble when I sewed it. Also, making the pattern bigger was tough because I didn’t have a pantograph. I will invest in one because it’s nifty. Anyway, I was somehow able to make the plushie. Instead of the usual plushie stuffing I had to use cotton because I forgot to bring some of that kind of filling with me when I went to Makati. As for the legs, I realized that fuzzy scrapbooking/crafting wire is too soft. If I get the chance to make this again, I will use the fuzzy wire but will twist tougher wire with it. The bird’s beak is from a barbeque stick It was sharpened and stuck on the face of the little bird. (Sounds painful right? Sorry!)

So yeah, this is the finished product: