Optional: Additional Dye Pot or Bucket, Small Squirt Bottle for Dye
DIRECTIONS:
To find the downloadable patterns click on the "GET PATTERNS" tab above.
Wash white cotton and hat in the washing machine and dry before starting.
Use McCall's Pattern M7869 View B to cut out white cotton pieces. Omit the sleeves, add 8" onto the neckband and cut it on the bias. Additionally, cut two more strips on the bias 1 1/4"x 12", and one rectangle with the grain 4"x 10".
Note: It is important to cut the neckband and the two additional strips (these will cover the edges of the arm holes) on the bias so that they can stretch around the curves of the neck and arms. The pattern used is intended for knit fabrics and will not specify this.
Prepare a dye bath: Fill dye pot with enough water to almost cover your textiles. The aim is to make an uneven distribution of dye. In this case, you don't want the fabric to make equal contact with the dye solution. Give it enough water to sit in for six hours without the fabric soaking it all up. Keep a couple of scrap pieces of white cotton fabric nearby to dip in the dye solution to continually check and guide you to the approximate darkness and tone. Use mostly eggplant dye, and mix in little bits of black to give the color more shade - you are first mixing a very dark purple. When the color seems right, throw in the ruffle pieces and the bucket hat. Do not swirl it around to immerse the pieces; just throw it in and let it sit unevenly in the dye for about an hour, then come back and flop it into a different position to sit in the dye for another hour. Change it again the next hour, etc. until its been sitting in the dye bath for 6 hours. At this point, rinse the textiles out in the sink first with warm water, then with cool water until the water runs off clear. If there are any areas where you would like to make darker with dye, set the fabric pieces in an empty dye pot and squirt on the dye mix in those areas. Let it sit again for another six hours.
When finished with the dark dye, pour 2/3 of the dye bath out into the sink and add water into the dye solution to make a lighter version of the first color. Again, dip scrap pieces of white cotton into the mix to check the color, and continue to add more water, eggplant dye, or black dye as needed. When the color seems right, throw the rest of the shirt pieces into the dye bath and let them sit in there unevenly for six hours. (If you have any additional large pieces of white cotton fabric, you may want to throw them in the dye as well, just in case you need them. You may need to readjust your dye to accommodate more fabric.) As before, flop the pieces into a different position every hour or so. At the end of six hours, wash it out as before and if needed, squirt on additional dye as before.
Dry and iron each piece.
Create a placket on the Back Yoke. We are not using a stretchy knit material as specified by the pattern, so create a placket on the back of the shirt in order to get the shirt on and off. Cut your 4"x 10" rectangle piece down to 4"x 7 1/2" (set the 4"x 2 1/2" piece aside for upcoming use.) Place the 2"x 6 3/4" piece of interfacing in the center, with 1/4" space on the top and 1/4" space on the bottom. Fuse on interfacing.
Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise and iron the crease (See Fig. 1).
Fold Back Yoke piece in half lengthwise and iron the crease. Line up crease of the rectangle with crease of the Back Yoke, the interfacing should be on top (See Fig. 2). Pin in place. Draw a line on either side of the center of the interfacing, 1/8" from the crease, and taper those lines back to center 1/4" from the bottom of the interfacing.
Sew over your drawn lines, shortening your stitch length at the tapered points. Leave the top left side open so that you can attach the roulette tube for your button in a couple steps (See Fig. 2). Use sharp scissors to cut down the center line, down to the point of the taper, and cut out the extra material in that little triangular area. Set aside and make roulette tube.
Trim down the 4"x 2 1/2" rectangle to 4"x 1". Fold it in half lengthwise and sew it together 1/4" from the fold. Trim down the extra material to about 1/8" and turn the tube right-side out using either a small safety pin or use a hand sewing needle to make a knot at the end of the tube with thread and use the thread to pull the fabric through its tubular channel. Form into a little loop and iron.
On the Back Yoke, pull the top rectangle to the inside and press the edges with your iron. Place your roulette about 3/4" from the top of the Back Yoke, loop out, edges tucked in between the Back Yoke and the interfacing rectangle. Pin in place and flip the rectangle back to the outside. Sew the roulette in place by continuing the line on the left side up to the top. Trim the edges of the roulette and fold the rectangle back to the inside. Finish the interior of the placket by folding the bottom edge in twice, ironing, and sewing. Then fold both edges in twice, iron, and sew.
Set aside and follow the M7869 pattern instructions for the top.
When you come to the neckband, do not sew the ends of the neckband together. Follow the pattern instructions, but fold the ends of the neckband in at the placket to finish. Trim off any unneeded extra length of the neckband to get a nice clean fold at the ends.
Instead of adding sleeves, use a 1/2" bias tape maker to make bias tape out of your 1 1/4"x 12" bias-cut fabric strips. Place over the armhole edges and pin. Sew, leaving a 1" space at the beginning and the end of the bias tape. In that 2" of open space, lap one end of bias tape over the other and on both ends mark the place where they would meet to finish the armhole. Then flip them right sides together and sew down your marked line. Flip it back over to check that you've sewn it correctly, then trim down the excess fabric and sew it into place on the arm hole.
_x000B_Repeat for second arm hole.
Finally, hand sew your button on the back placket.
JOANN HACKS:
To iron the crown of your wrinkly dyed bucket hat, make your ironing board hot with your iron and press the hat crown against the hot board with your fingers.