EMBROIDERY Sewnews cat hat, Inetz 3 Comments 2 min read

Need A Warm Hat This Weekend?

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Do you need a hat for marching around town this weekend? I’m planning to sew up a few, we’re having record cold temps. I made a similar hat in a light weight knit last year, so I decided to sew myself up a cozy fleece version.

The unique shape of the hat is easy to achieve; the ear shape is made by folding over a rectangle and seaming the sides. Here’s a quick and easy method that even a novice can master.

  1. Measure the circumference of your (or any other marcher’s) head. Divide that number by two, then add 3/4” for seam allowance. Record this as the width.
  2. From pink fleece, cut a rectangle that measures the recorded width by 22” for an adult, 20” for a child, 16 1/2” for a toddler or 14” for a baby. Cut with the width along the direction of greatest stretch.
  3. Fold the rectangle in half widthwise with the wrong sides together. Mark 2” from the raw edges on both side seams. Stitch from the mark to the raw edge using 3/8” seam allowances.
  4. Clip into the seam allowances at the mark, being careful not to cut the stitches. Clip the seam allowances at the raw edge on the diagonal.SquareHat-1
  5. Turn the hat wrong side out. Stitch the remaining sections of the side seams with a 3/8” seam allowance.SquareHat-2
  6. Turn the hat right side out. Turn up the lower 2”, creating a cuff. Easy peasy!

 

Femme Fatale

I decided to jazz my hat up with some embroidery. Urban Threads has a collection called “Femme Fatale” that I’ve been eyeing for a while, so this seemed like a great opportunity to put one to use.

The design is big — 7.83” wide by 7.01” high, which was just big enough to fit comfortably on the front half of my hat (my width was 12”). I reduced my cuff to 1 1/2” in order to give myself a little extra room.

To find my center point, I first decided that the lower edge of the design should be 3 1/2” from the lower edge (that’s 1 1/2” for the cuff, 1 1/2” for the fabric the cuff will cover, and 1/2” so it’s not right against the edge). Then I divided the height of the design (7.01”) in half (approx. 3 1/2”) and added that measurement to the 3 1/2” I designated from the lower edge. That made my center point 7” from the lower edge. I chose one of the short edges to be my front, found the lengthwise center, and marked 7” up from there.

Embroidered pink hatBecause my rectangle was too small to be hooped in the required hoop, I hooped only a piece of heavyweight tear-away stabilizer, then sprayed it with temporary adhesive and finger pressed the fleece onto the stabilizer. Then I covered it with water-soluble topper so the stitches didn’t sink into the fleece, holding it in place at the edge with painter’s tape. When I embroidered the design, I chose darker pinks than the design called for to make the flowers pop against the pink of the hat.

In hindsight, I probably should have purchased a smaller version of the design (I somehow missed that there were size options for this one!); the “feminist” gets lost a little in the fold between the ears. Oh, well — live and learn! I’m still pretty pleased.

Pink hat onOf course, if you’re not a feminist killjoy (or are but don’t want to advertise it), you can embroider anything you like on the front of these hats. They don’t have to come in pink or be for the Woman’s March, either — they’re a super fast make in any color with any design, and they’ll keep you warm no matter why you’re out in the cold.

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