Midsummer's here with blossom, midgets and the light - the gorgeous light! In the north of Sweden there's midnight sun (daylight 24 hours a day), but even here in south of Sweden the sun hardly disappears beyond the horizon before rising again. Although these summer nights are lovely, I know at least myself, that I sleep pretty bad without any blinds. I know some people use a flight mask or pull down their cap. Before a canoe trip in Northern Finland I created a soft cap from a pair of cut off jeans. It's comfy, doesn't slide around when I turn, the screen folds nicely and creates this little dark room without putting pressure to my face. A luxurious thing to have when doing over nights outdoors this time of year. During the day I use it under my mosquito jacket to keep the mesh away from my face and also as a sunscreen. If it blinds me too much, I simply fold the screen upwards. Handsome? Naaah ... Practical? Definitely.

You'll need:

• A cut off jeans leg, preferably stretch jeans.
• Pins
• Scissors
• A chalk
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• A 5 liter bowl
• Ev. About 3 inches of cotton ribbon.

Procedure:

1. Pull the jeans leg over your head, from the thigh-end, until it fits around your skull. Mark about 2 cm above your head with a chalk.
2. Take it off and cut by the markings. Tend the corners so they'll be more round.
3. Turn it inside out and sew with a straight seam about 1 cm from the cut off edge. Zig-zag the edge outside the seam on your way back so you'll get a cap. If you can't see anything when wearing it, simply fold up the rim so that you can peek out from under it, mark with a chalk and cut off superfluos fabric. Don't fold the rim yet, well get to that point later on.
4. Now to the screen. Take the lower part of the jeans leg and turn it inside out. Put your bowl on to the fabric so that you're able to cut a half circle shape with the bowl as reference.
5. Pin and sew a straight seam along the marking. Cut out the half circle with about 1 cm of seam allowance. Also cut som small slites towards the seam in the seam allowence. This will help you getting the edge nice and flat.
6. Turn your half circle piece inside out so that your seam allowance ends up on the inside. Smooth it out, with an iron or simply pull it a little with your hands.
7. Now sew more halfcircles with about 0,5 - 2 cm between them, depending on how stif you want your screen to be.
8. Then pin the screen to the outside of your cap so that the screen points upwards and fasten it with a straight seam in a slight arc, about 5 cm at its widest point. Otherwise the screen will point straight downward when you're done.
9. For the hem of the cap I put a strap of the same fabric obverse side against obverse and then fold it inside the cap. Pin it with all edges folded out of sight and fasten it with straight seam.
10. Then I sew all the way round the hem, even the sreen. Pull a little in the fabric when doing this, to keep it elastic. And be careful by the edges of the screen where the fabric is thick so you don't break your needle needlessly. (Yeah, I just had to put those last words together)

Was this cap helpful? Please, feel free to share the post with friends and family.

Stitch in peace/

Lovisa

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