Coon Skin Cap

I mentioned before that I’ve been on the lookout for some frugal (“cheap”) fake fur to use with this 50 cent toy to make a coonskin cap.

50 cents at SVdP

(I do wish I could figure out how to make links back to previous posts, but I digress)

A reader suggested finding a stuffed animal I could use, which I thought was an excellent idea but I haven’t seen any that would work. I came across this piece of fabric at Goodwill but $2.99 isn’t frugal enough for me.

One evening as I walked the dog around the block we came upon this:

Free Pile

I gleaned a few items:

Clothing will be donated to Union Gospel Mission.

including this Muff, I admit I was tempted to keep it and use it as a muff. Who doesn’t enjoy the toasty feeling of cold hands snuggled in a muff?

Practicality won out. How often would I actually use the muff? and this piece of fake fur certainly met my criteria for “Cheap”!

although it wasn’t originally cheap.

$42

I unstitched the muff to give me a flat piece of fur. From this pattern I already owned

I found I would need a band 4 ¾” X 23”, and an 8″ circle for the crown to make a child sized medium hat.

I had to piece my fur to get 23″.

I cut a lining from Navy & Black Buffalo Check flannel.

I  sewed the band & lining along the long edge. Then across the short edge, creating the lined band.

I pinned and then hand basted the crown to the band in order to make sure I had all three layers in place before I stitched with the machine.

Last step was to tack the tail in place.

My finished product is a cap worthy of Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett or any other pioneer.If you have a guess why a frugal spinster wants a coon skin cap, you can submit it in the comment section. I’ll be back later this week to let you know.