How hard could a tiny Snoopy hat be to make? Using a 1980’s Snoopy Sewing Machine by Estrela, I tried my best to make Snoopy a hat. The children’s sewing machine still worked after all these years, but was exasperating to use for a veteran sewist.
About the Snoopy Sewing Machine
Made in Brazil, the Snoopy Sewing Machine by Estrela was not an item I had heard of in my many years of collecting. This was made for the South American market with the box in Portuguese. The manual is also in Portuguese, but this one did not include one. Luckily, I found one online and was able to translate it using online tools.
The Snoopy sewing machine uses just one thread to make a chain stitch. Plus, it uses universal 100/16 Singer needles (affiliate link), so I should be able to easily change that out if need be. The machine also came with a pattern to make Snoopy a pair of shorts and a hat.
Creating with the Snoopy Sewing Machine
Luckily, the manual answered all my questions on how to use the machine. The machine does have a foot pedal run on three D-Cell batteries. However, the machine wasn’t working well enough for this feature to be effective at sewing fabric. Instead, the hand wheel worked just fine to get things moving for this project. Also, the sewing machine has a task light that isn’t working.
Using some crazy fabric I picked up at Goodwill, I cut out the hat pattern pieces. It wasn’t until editing the video that I noticed the pattern pieces had all their seam allowance cut off. Aaugh! Snoopy’s final hat is a little tight on him for this reason, but the knit polyester makes up for it.
Sewing the layers together worked ok for basic seams. There was a lot of restarting due to the machine dropping stitches and only having one hand to guide the fabric. For the final addition of the brim to the cap, I just hand-sewed the two pieces together. The thickness of the fabric was a little too much for the pint-sized Snoopy sewing machine. It took over an hour to make this tiny hat.
More Projects
While I’d never try using this sewing machine again, I’d love to make outfits for Snoopy and Belle plushes with my proper sewing machine. Plus, I have a poor Lucy Pocket Doll that needs a new dress. Let me know what DIY projects you’d like me to take on and see my ideas at Patreon.com. With your help, I can continue exploring more obscure Peanuts memorabilia and creating beautiful items for Snoopy and his friends.
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