Project 5 - Straw hat rescue

This was inspired by my lack of a hat in Queensland and my Mother's Christmas present to me - I know, it looks kinda weird, but it really makes custom bias tape a 30 second job, and it looks really professional without burning your fingers.  Obviously I had to find a use for it while I was still with Mum so she could see it in action.

Not used to the heat of Queensland I had neglected to bring a hat with me, which soon became a problem.  Mum found a hat I had left at her place a few years ago when the whole family had gone over and we gone to "The Outback Experience".  It was a tourist attraction (so what? we were tourists?) and came with a branded hat:

My Dad and I at "The Outback Experience"

While it was a fun evening, the hat wasn't something that I felt fitted into my everyday wardrobe, so it had been sitting at the back of one of Mum's wardrobes ever since.

Every time I came over she reminded me it was there, but I usually remembered to take a hat that didn't scream TOURIST quite as much as this one.

Over the years it had become rather scruffy as well as still screaming tourist, so I decided that I'd use the bias binding machine and a little craft glue to spruce it up and disguise it's origins

I found a black cotton with a small white flower print in Mum's stash and started by removing the inner band and gluing a piece of the fabric to the bottom of the hat:

I let it dry then cut out the whole in the middle, clipped the circle right back and glued the edges down

I then stitched the band back in the inside. 

I'm sure I took photos of the next bit, with the band back in, but I can't find them any where!  

Anyway, I made a long strip of bias binding (with the machine, obviously) and stitched it round the outside of the brim and replaced the external band with one matching the underside of the brim.

Low and behold, a revamped hat, with no hint the "Outback Experience" branding on it.

I'm still not sure I'd wear the hat if I didn't need to, but I didn't feel so embarrassed wearing it for the rest of my holiday.