The Hat

So, back in February I bought this little beach hat for my niece. Just a plain white t-shirt fabric hat which I planned to stitch her name on. Knowing that I'd never be able to iron on a design I also picked up a washable fabric pen so I could just draw the letters on the brim. After I got the name written on I decided I really liked this little bumble bee design I saw in my 'Doodle Stitching' book. So, I drew that on to the top part of the hat. Now, I've been VERY lazy about getting this project finished. I got the name stitched on just fine. It was a little tough because the brim is extra thick. But it looks nice. I even managed a french knot for the dot on the 'i'. Then I started in on the bee. Now, this hat is so little that I can't fit it into a hoop. So I've been sort of stretching out the fabric between the fingers of my left hand while stitching with my right. I got the little buzz behind the bee on just fine. And the stinger, though tricky, came out quite nice. But then I started to put on the body of the bee. The design became difficult to follow and the fabric began to pucker. The stripes came out all lumpy and uneven and they didn't match up with the stinger. So, I pulled it all out. I almost cried, but it needed to be done. Now, it's sitting there waiting for me to decide whether I'm going to try to restitch the body, or if I'll pull out the stinger and the buzz and just leave the name.