Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A Warm Winter Hat for Baby.


When Cathy commented on Ellora's hat in a previous post it reminded me that last year I was going to post about how I had made that hat. I guess I got busy and completely forgot. But I had it almost all ready to post. I even took pictures so I have finished it up. Her it is:

Ellora needed a new hat because she had out grown her old one already. I found this super cute one at online Old Navy but didn't want to spend the money plus shipping and then wait 3 weeks to get it so I decided to make my own. I looked all over the internet for a pattern and couldn't find one so I made one up and got to make it just the way I wanted it. It turned out really cute so I decided to share. I don't know all the technical terms so I hope it is not too confusing.

I used a fleece. Measure around your baby's head then add an extra inch or two. This number I will call the circumference.

You will need to cut:

a: Top piece: two pieces that are 5in by half of the circumference plus 1/2 in for seam allowance.
(for example: my baby's head was 16 inches around. Half of that is 8 inches. Plus 1/2 inch for seam allowance equals 8 and 1/2 inch pieces.)

b. Bottom piece: one piece that is 5in by circumference plus 1/4 in seam allowance. (for mine 16 and 1/4 inches)

c. Ear cover: four pieces that are 3in by 3in

d. Tie: two pieces that are 1in by 12in

e. Fringe: two pieces that are 3in by 5in. You will cut these into 1/4in strips. You should end up with 48 strips total. Keep them stacked in twos.



All seams should be 1/4 of an inch in.

Step 1: Sew the short sides of the top piece (a) together; right sides facing in. Then turn right side out.


 Step 2: Take two of the ear cover pieces (c) place them right sides together and sew up two parallel sides. leaving it wrong side out take piece (d) and sew it into a third side. It should be sticking out if the seam about 1/4 of an inch and the rest of it should come out into the tube between the two sides you just sewed so when you turn it, it will have the long piece on the out side. Do the same to the other two (c) pieces and other (d) piece.

Step 3: fold bottom piece (b) in half, right sides together, so that it is still 5 in but now about half of circumference. Sew short end to make a tube. Fold tube in half (into it self so seam is hidden in fold and you have a 2 and 1/2 inch tube with a fold along the bottom)


Step 4: Take the top piece and an ear piece. Line the ear piece up at the seam of top piece. Overlap the two pieces. The tie end of ear piece should be coming away from top piece. (This seam will be covered up by bottom piece) Do the same to the other ear piece lined up with other seam of top piece.


Step 5: Take the brim piece (b) and pin it to top piece of hat (a) about 1 inch from the bottom of top piece so you can stitch it on with out sewing over the ear piece. Sew using a zigzag stitch along the top of (b). Baby can where hat with brim down or up.

Step 6. Turn hat inside out and sew top closed. Turn back right side out.

Step 7: take 24 fringe (e) still stacked in twos so you have 12 rows and sew over the top of them to connect them to each other. Now you can fold the 12 strips half so you have 6 piles of 4 and sew it to one corner of hat. Do the same with other 24 pieces.




Step 8: Cut fringe into ends of tie about 1 inch up and about 5 cuts. Tie a knot just above fringe.



















Here is what the finished project should look like:

2 comments:

  1. Oh, I forgot that later I added a step. If you notice in the first picture the hat is gathered at the top. I turned it inside out and folded the center in half down the seam in the top of the hat. Then i sewed a short stitch about an inch and a half in from the edge. You can measure how the hat fits on your baby's head and this stitch will help keep the hat from falling over baby's eyes. As their head gets bigger you can bring it out a little. This also makes the hat look more finished.

    ReplyDelete