Five years ago Rena and I checked an item off my bucket list. We rode through the Panama Canal... (the cruise ship was not on my bucket list... now it doesn't have to be) Grin.
Me in my Panama Hat...
On one of our excursions ashore, I bought a straw woven hat. Of course, I call it my Panama Hat (which technically has its roots in Ecuador...).
Anyway, since then, it has become one of my go-to summer hats. (You can also see me wearing it in pictures in other blogs.)
Sadly, the joining (plastic) trim seam at the back of the brim has started fraying. So when I wear it, I get poked and it snags on my clothes. Quoting from Iron Man Two, "Funny how annoying a little prick can be."
Something so small can be so annoying...
So I wondered how I could fix it.
I started by trimming. No good. Next, I tried a wee bit of flame to melt the tiny bits of plastic together. Hmmm... didn't last long. Then I tried a smidge of glue to cover. Still a no go.
Ok then. I thought to cover it with another edge binding. My frugal self railed at the thought of searching out and purchasing ribbon to "try" and see if it worked. Yet I still do want to restore my hat.
Though I did have a nagging thought in the back of my mind, I ignored it and got out my loom and some thread and started weaving a bit of ribbon.
Trying to decide pattern and color...
I envisioned all sorts of patterns and colors... yet settled on practical, neutral. I warped up my tiny loom (I only needed 43 inches) and after a few hours, had my new trim.
The ribbon trim...
I found the smallest needle I could and threaded it. As I started sewing the band over the mini plastic fragments sticking out, I saw the flaw in my plan. That nagging thought in the back of my mind came crashing forward.
Putting the sewing needle through the straw, broke it. I was compromising the integrity of the material. After four stitches, I knew if I continued, this would be another temporary fix... that soon the edge would fall off.
I thought about gluing it or basting it... it's difficult to "undo" glue and could make it worse... and basting still breaks the straw and could make it worse... still contemplating what to do.
So I put it all away for the time being and tolerate the little pokes at the top of my back.
I'm back to the drawing board...
And open for suggestions...
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