The Flight Cap

Recently I was lucky enough to add a really great World War II-era flight cap sewing pattern to my collection. I had so much fun sewing it up for myself that I decided to turn it into a PDF and offer it in my pattern shop.

I got such great feedback from everyone who has bought the Beach Bra Pattern that I thought, why not a hat, too?

I love the great advertising pictures of G.I.s endorsing products during the war. The debonaire way that their flight caps are always cocked to the side makes me think of the jaunty, "we can win this" attitude that we used to have as a nation.

 I didn't have any 'olive drab' colored fabric in my stash so I went instead with a thick, black cotton and a yard of vintage gray double-fold bias tape.

The hat was a breeze. It came together perfectly within an hour, and had really great finishing instructions for the seams.

First, you sew the 5/8" seam. Then you seam another 1/4" from the original seam on the allowance, and then trim, and finish off the raw edge with an overcasting stitch. (You may need a special foot for your machine to do that).

This made the inside look super professional and removed any need for lining.

I think I'm pretty happy with the final product. Next, I think I'll be printing this out again at about 60% to make a fascinator sized version.