CherryPatHats

Fine sewn hats: cloche, pillbox, fedora, flat caps

Portland, Maine On Etsy since 2012

420 Sales | 5 out of 5 stars

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Buyers bought gifts from this shop and gave them 5-star reviews!

CherryPatHats

Fine sewn hats: cloche, pillbox, fedora, flat caps

Portland, Maine | 420 Sales

5 out of 5 stars

Shop owner

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Announcement    Hand made hats - cloche, pillbox, fedora, flat cap, floppy, and lumberjack hats with ear flaps - sewn from vintage and upcycled garments with colors and textures that resonate, creating new personality with a nod to its original character. Sustainable style. Tweeds, cottons, fleeces, and silks! Oh my!

Beginning Nov. 7, 2019, processing time for most hats has been pushed out to 2-3 weeks. If this causes a missed deadline for you, send me a message to let me know and if the hat is in stock and in the correct size, then it an be shipped in 3-5 days. Be sure to provide an actual head measurement as described in the listing. I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

In the meantime, imagine your own custom hat, then send me a convo or picture with color, fabric, or style. If it can be sewn, it can be made because I will figure it out. I like math and problem solving, spatial relationships, properties of materials, tweaking variables to create harmony. I love colors that resonate.

Announcement

Last updated on Dec 28, 2019

Hand made hats - cloche, pillbox, fedora, flat cap, floppy, and lumberjack hats with ear flaps - sewn from vintage and upcycled garments with colors and textures that resonate, creating new personality with a nod to its original character. Sustainable style. Tweeds, cottons, fleeces, and silks! Oh my!

Beginning Nov. 7, 2019, processing time for most hats has been pushed out to 2-3 weeks. If this causes a missed deadline for you, send me a message to let me know and if the hat is in stock and in the correct size, then it an be shipped in 3-5 days. Be sure to provide an actual head measurement as described in the listing. I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

In the meantime, imagine your own custom hat, then send me a convo or picture with color, fabric, or style. If it can be sewn, it can be made because I will figure it out. I like math and problem solving, spatial relationships, properties of materials, tweaking variables to create harmony. I love colors that resonate.

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Cheryll McKinnon

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Cheryll McKinnon

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About CherryPatHats

Sales 420
On Etsy since 2012
  • The fabric sings to me--like a tuning fork going off in my head. Then it tells me what it wants to be. I don't argue.
  • An outdated coat in timeless tweed is transformed into a smart cap with a leather watchband attached to the hatband.
  • When my 1980 Bernina sewed new seat covers for a 1990 Suzuki Samuri, hubby sprang for a CONSEW cylinder arm.
  • Posting images online is more fun at a desk outfitted with stripes and dots.
  • Will I make a feather hat to help someone undergoing chemo? Of course! I'm an engineer. I will figure it out.

Engineered to Fit -- Every Day is Pi Day

My mom taught me how to sew and took me to fabric stores and show me how to design and create school clothes, prom dresses, and even drapes without batting an eye as to the difficulty.

Starting with a Sears Kenmore, I graduated to Berninas and a BabyLock serger. Then after my husband saw what my little 1980 Bernina Nova 900 could do sewing up new vinyl seat covers for our son’s Suzuki Samurai, he sprung for a CONSEW 227-R industrial machine so I could sew hatbands into fedoras, but secretly he was eyeing a new boat cover and seat cushions. It’s a partnership, though, because he can repair the Berninas I pick up second hand--he’s a mechanical engineer and I’m an electrical engineer, so how hard could it be to fix a machine that only goes in reverse?

Besides upcycling machines, I use upcycled garments. While most new fabrics are north of $50/yard, I search for garments whose fabric quality was overlooked and underappreciated, such as a tailored herringbone wool suit in teal and grey with a deep lapel and corozo buttons. It might become a pillbox or a six-panel bicycling cap with a short visor.

The fabrics are laid out on the cutting table along with complementary fabrics so their colors and textures can mingle. They are paired when they resonate—it’s like a tuning fork goes off in my head. A hat pattern that best reflects the garment's personality is chosen and a sub-master is cut and modified so its lines create a unique design. Some creations are based on a customer's description or picture: a Russian budenovka in light grey wool, Aunt Bethany's black velvet pillbox, or a six-panel kayaking hat in cotton duck with a neck flap. After researching its background and views from all sides to determine construction and fabrics, patterns are drawn with the help of a French ruler, Pi calculations, and then muslin prototypes are made.

Every Day is Pi Day.
Mass-produced hats begin with an initial machine set up that takes time to perfect before creating thousands. For me, in contrast, it takes several test runs with new fabrics, because each garment holds its own secrets--how it wants to be cut, pinned, sewn, stretched or draped. There are many variables: special pins or needles, maybe a walking foot or, say, for silk, special tear-away fabric beneath it so the feed dogs don't mangle the silk. Sewing very different fabrics together so that their seams end in the same spot, causes quadratic equations to float before my eyes--which variable needs adjustment? There's something to be said about introducing math concepts using fabric.

One suit jacket will make up to three hats, maybe not all the same style. Cuffs, lapels and welt pockets are used for their design elements to add character. An iron, pressing ham and steamer are vital to coax fabric into place. The wooden percussion block my son made in junior high school is repurposed to whack a neat flat seam. Then the hat 'rests' between sessions on a wooden head form.

The hats are finished by hand, sometimes with accent buttons that seem to beg for inclusion. Then they are photographed and carefully stored.

When I was learning to sew, my mom would ask, “How’s it going Cherry Pat?” That was her nickname for me (my given name is Cheryll Patricia). I still hear her voice saying, “Just ease that seam a bit,” when I come across a difficult section. Or, “change the needle and rethread the machine,” whenever things go completely bonkers. “It’s going fine, mom.”

TL;DR About me? Born Canadian, raised in Arizona, raised a 4-H pig, steer, and a Registered Quarter Horse filly, worked for Ford, and slung hash at a Route 66 diner. Graduated from University of Central Florida, worked at NASA, moved to Maine and worked as an electrical engineer. Kept on sewing. Learned to type, scuba, fly, do shorthand, knit, garden, ski and goof off along the way. Just normal stuff.

Shop members

  • Cheryll McKinnon

    Owner, Maker, Designer

    A left-brained engineer now in her right mind. Spent over 35 years in the high tech semiconductor industry, now indulges passion for fabric and a latent talent for sewing. Spatial cognition and chromatic resonance unite. Hats are engineered to fit.

Production partners

  • no partner

    Falmouth, ME

    book publisher

Shop policies

More information

Last updated on Dec 28, 2019
Frequently asked questions
Suggested sizing

Please measure your head as described in the listing when ordering. To clarify, medium does not mean the hat fits the entire range of 21" to 22" (unless the fabric is stretchy). A hat is sewn to be +/- 1/8" of your measurement.

Women
Xsmall 18" to 20" (47.8 - 50.8 cm)
Small 20" to 21" (50.8 - 53.3 cm)
Medium 21" to 22" (53.3 - 55.9 cm)
Large 23" to 24" (58.4 - 61 cm)
XL 24" to 25" (61 - 63.5 cm)
XXL 25" to 26" (63.5 - 66 cm)

Men
Small 21-1/2" to 22-1/4" (54.6 - 56.5 cm, sizes 6-3/4 to 7)
Medium 22-1/2" to 23" (57.5 - 58.4 cm, sizes 7-1/8 to 7-1/4)
Large 23-3/8" to 23-1/2" (59.4 - 59.7 cm, sizes 7-3/8 to 7-1/4)
XL 24" to 24-1/2" (61 - 62.2 cm, sizes 7-5/8 to 7-3/4)
XXL 25" to 25.25” (63.5 – 64.1 cm, size 7-7/8 to 8)

Tips for a better fit. Measure at the widest part of the head wherever the brim will rest. Do you have a round head or elongated oval head? Most hats are made for oval heads, so take a bow and ask a friend to tell you if yours is oval or otherwise.

High profile or low-profile hat? Some people look best in a low-profile hat; others prefer a tall crown hat. If that’s you, let me know your dome measurement: measure from the mid forehead, over the top to the base of the skull where you feel a divot (where the hairline ends). Men average 14” and women 13”.

Don’t rely on the conventional hat sizes, because the ranges vary by an inch or more depending on a country’s standards. and that affects the fit.

Always provide a recent head measurement. I usually suggest taking a measurement three times and taking the average. Including the additional information is very helpful to provide an accurate fit.

How to care for hats

Hats should be spot cleaned unless otherwise directed. First, use a sticky-tape roller to remove dust and debris. Allow whatever is wet to dry and then scrape it off with a fingernail or toothpick. If the spot is not removed after that, then using a clean white paper towel, dab with water and a smidgen of white vinegar from above while having a clean dry white paper towel below until there is no color. Use lots of paper towels.

To re-shape, if needed, stretch the hat over a salad bowl or balloon that's close to your head size. Worst case, use steam carefully and the fabric will settle into that shape. Most hats can be enlarged with a hat stretcher. It's a matter of moisture, temperature and time.

Choosing colors and what is Pantone?

Humans evolved with poor color memory. That's why it's difficult to describe burgundy when you really mean maroon. Or describe tan as off-white. Pantone is a company that helps mitigate that discrepany by using a numbering system to describe colors, shades and saturation.

When choosing a color such as grey (gray to some), your concept of steel gray could be my medium gray. To avoid guessing, just Google 'Pantone gray' and you will see many results for shades of gray. Pick a Pantone number for the one you prefer and include that in your order comments. That way, despite variations in monitor color rendition, I will be able to deliver a color that comes closer to the one you desire.

What if my item is not delivered? (U.S. buyers)

1. Contact your local Post Office
2. Report theft to your local Police

The USPS tracks all of my items. If you don't receive your item, contact your local PO and ask questions. It will provide details on when and where the item was delivered (mailbox, porch, neighbor's house); it often has GPS and drone information, too.

It's a citizen's responsibility to provide a secure delivery location, if not the mailbox. It is a federal crime to tamper with or remove items from a mailbox. All crimes must be reported by the buyer to their local police. (Sellers are not victims; police will not accept a report from them.)

Sellers cannot assure safe delivery locations nor police neighborhoods. Avoid problems with a secure delivery location.

What if my item is not delivered? (International buyers). Items are shipped USPS First Class International Parcel, which includes tracking until the item departs U.S. shores, and then by international carriers, if available.

Sometimes a parcel is selected by your local Customs Office for detailed scrutiny and it may take six to eight weeks to process. Please let me know, but also contact your local postal service and Customs processor for information and status of your package. The USPS and I cannot interfere or modify customs procedures in international jurisdictions.

My hats are shipped internationally and your country may charge an additional tax. If an item is returned because of nonpayment of VAT or other Customs fees, a refund is forfeited.