Ok...so first there was this explosion of bonnet purchases...and I yearned to buy one myself...but I don't have the cash right now and I was able to restrain myself.

Then, Herminator posted a thread of his newly made Tam o' Shanter that he made using a pattern from the notorious Troop 7 (which, by the way, are some great instructions for a basic tam).
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f144/made-tam-58085/

Well I just couldn't control myself any longer. Not to be outdone, I set off on my quest to make a tam of my very own.

I must say, however...I can never just follow someone else's pattern...I had to make it my own. My inspiration and desire was to create a tam similar to those currently worn by the Royal Regiment of Scotland. I studied the construction and shape of it.

I had an old wool Army blanket with some Boy Scout patches sewn to it that I've been meaning to take apart...I always thought the color of the blanket was ugly and the sewing job was not to my standards. So I ripped all the patches off, pulled the threads out, and gave the blanket a washing and mild drying in my washer and dryer to "full the wool". So this golden olive wool was my starting fabric as it is very similar to the color of the issued Tam. I took the directions that Herminator provided a link to and set about making my own template...slightly different. In order to have the seam in the back and for the hat to flop towards the front, I opened the sidewall piece up from a donut shape to more of a horseshoe. I also made it narrower at the back than at the front...creating a shorter rise in back and more flop in front.

So here is my first pattern with the pieces cut:


I sewed it all together and came out with a pretty good product...here is my son, Matt, wearing it (the boy has the exact same size nugget as mine...58cm or 7 1/4"):

Back View:


Most people would have said "good enough"...but I wasn't entirely happy with it. Firstly, the size is a bit too large (though they did kinda scalp me at the barber on monday and my hair is shorter than it usually is). I tried to put it in hot water and dry it on high heat...no luck...this wool is just not going to shrink. It's also a bit stretchy...so it occurred to me that I should use some stiff canvas as an interfacing to the headband.

The other thing that I wasn't entirely happy with was the flop of it. I wanted the left side to stand up a bit straighter to facilitate adding a square of tartan or a rosette and badge of some sort. So I re-evaluated the shape of my pattern for my sidewalls. Straightening the curve of that piece on one side would cause that side to stand up straighter...whereas a more exaggerated curve to the front right would cause the tam to want to flop forward and to the right...so here was my original:

And here is the new template:

1. I cut out the pieces and stitched the interfacing to the inner half of the headband first:

2. Then sewed the sidewall together and sewed it to the outer portion of the headband. All seams are sewn right side to right side, then top-stitched on 1/8" from the join seam on both sides of the seam allowance to copy the construction technique or the issued tam.
3. I then sewed pinned the headband so that the inside top edge was exactly even with the seam joining it to the sidewall piece on the outside and stitched the bottom edge of the headband...I don't stitch the inside of the headband to the outside yet, because I insert the edge of the lining between the inside and outside of the headband at the very end and stitch it last.
4. I then pin and sew the top of the tam to the sidewalls...again, right side to right side and then triple stitching the seam. At this point the bonnet is turned right side out and should look finished on the outside.
5. I took a small piece of wool, folded it in half and pinned it to the inside of the tam (from the outside) at the center of the top as a reinforcement for stitching the toorie on.
5. I then sewed a liner of black cotton in the same manner that I sew the sidewalls to the top...only difference is that I cut about 1/2" more fabric on the inside curve of the sidewall piece and then cut slits all the way around that curve to allow it to stretch to the size of the head (cotton doesn't stretch like the wool I'm using).
6. I then placed the liner inside with the bottom edge inserted and pinned between the two layers of the headband...and then top stitched all the way around the top of the headband.
7. Finally I made a toorie and sewed it on top using waxed button and craft thread.
And here you have it:

And the back view:


I apologize for the ugly model!!!

I still need to add some sort of ribbon or tape/webbing decoration at the back and some tartan and badge, maybe a hackle, on the side...but I'm really happy with how it turned out. The side wall sticks up like I want. It's probably more on the proportions of the older WWII era Tams than the modern smaller ones...but I like how it flops. It's very similar to the shaping of my Army berets...feels natural on my head.